


Vendetta

by OneiraMegala



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Fantasy, Gore, Hunters, Hunting, M/M, Tragedy, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-06
Updated: 2014-04-11
Packaged: 2018-01-11 09:39:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1171542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneiraMegala/pseuds/OneiraMegala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Antonio is a vampire, hungry for the blood of this certain Italian. He kidnaps him, and makes him his own, hoping that the other will give him his blood forever. In this time, Antonio and Lovino are trying to find a way to cope with each other. But what they both don't know, is that a terrible fate is awaiting them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Antonio licked his lips, his green eyes intensely staring at a boy on the street under him. He looked around, and noticed that there was no one. No one except for this boy... With a swift jump he got down from the roof he had been sitting on, and landed on his feet behind the boy.

The latter quickly turned around, his eyes wide. Only now Antonio could see his face. He was a pretty boy. He had golden eyes, somewhat long – at least compared to Antonio – dark brown hair, and a slightly tanned skin.

“Hey there, beautiful~”  
  
The young man in front of him stepped back, feeling visibly uncomfortable.  
  
Antonio smiled gently. He didn't want to scare this little man... “¡Hola! Listen... Can you help me with something?”  
  
The boy shook his head. “Go away, you freak!” he yelled, with a heavily accented voice.  
  
“Shh.... Look, I'm not here to harm you. I'm sorry, my sudden appearance must have scared you, ¿no?” He extended his hand. “My name is Antonio. What is yours?”  
  
“That is none of your business! Listen, I don't have time for this! I need to get home, my little brother is waiting--”  
  
But Antonio had his hand already on the boy's shoulder. “Well... I guess you can wait with going home, you don't have to be there right at this moment... Listen, I really need your help right now. Are you willing to help me?”  
  
The other glared at him. Antonio could see how he was trying to hide his fear. Not that it was going to work... The taller man could practically smell it.  
  
“A-Are you going to leave me alone after I helped you...?” the other stammered.  
  
“Maybe. Depends on how it was.”  
  
The boy's eyes widened at that, and he tried to step back – only to be stopped by Antonio's hand holding his shoulder in a firm grip. “Hey, I'm not going to rape you or something, if you thought that...”  
  
“Then what is it!? I'm pretty sure you aren't going to ask me for the fucking way!”  
  
Antonio nodded, smiling gently. “No, it's indeed something...different.” He parted his lips slightly, the sharp tips of his teeth showing. “All I'm asking from you, is your blood. It doesn't have to be much. I'm already happy with--”  
  
“Wait a minute, asshole! So you did all this – you bothered me, let my brother wait – just for a stupid prank?”  
  
Antonio shook his head. “No, they're real as can be! Listen, I'm--”  
  
“I bet I can just take them out easily!” The furious boy reached his hand out, and before Antonio could even react, he was now pulling at his overly sharp teeth. The green-eyed man didn't say anything, afraid to bite the other. It wasn't really that he liked hurting people, and certainly if it wasn't even necessary!  
  
He gently wrapped his fingers around the boy's wrist, even though he was almost whimpering in pain.  
  
“Ah!”  
  
Suddenly, the younger man jerked his hand away, at the same moment that the taste of blood entered Antonio's mouth.  
  
“I told you...” he growled, clenching his teeth.  
  
His prey was now holding his bleeding finger, whining softly. Antonio was breathing heavily, trying his hardest to hold himself. But at this moment he was like a shark who had smelled blood... Heh. Good comparisation... He just wanted – needed to sink his teeth in that delicious soft skin...  
  
“W-Why are you...drooling...?” The human stared at him, frozen in place. “I...Your eyes... they are....red.... Oh shit!” He turned, but Antonio pressed him against the wall before he could escape. His pink tongue slowly slid over his prey's neck, before he let the tips of his fangs scrape over it. With a satisfied sigh, he finally dug his teeth into the soft flesh. As soon as the blood started to pour out, he lapped it up, and took it in with a low groan. He closed his eyes as he enjoyed his meal.  
  
When he finally parted from his prey, his eyes regained their normal colour again. He licked the blood from his lips, and looked at the human. It was as if he was about to faint... And indeed, a few seconds later he had a limp body in his arms.  
  
“Must be from the shock...” he mumbled. Great... There he stood, in the middle of a sleeping city, with a lifeless body partly covered in blood, in his arms. There was only one option left... To take him home.

* * *

 

“Hey there, tomato~”  
  
Antonio smiled gently at the boy in his bed, who had just opened his eyes.  
  
“W-What...?” the latter mumbled, sleepily rubbing his eyes and letting out a small yawn.  
  
“Your stuff is in the room next to this one, I figured you'd want to keep it...”  
  
The boy nodded slowly, still half asleep. “Wait... Did you say... tomato?”  
  
“Well, you had a lot of them in that bag of yours...”  
  
The young man immediately sat up, the blanket sliding off of his bare shoulders. “Where are they.” It wasn't even a question, but an order.  
  
“Oh, about them... Ehehe...”  
  
“What. Did you. Fucking! Do!?”  
  
Antonio smiled nervously. “Well... I found them, and...”  
  
“Why am I in your house anyway? Where's Feli? Who the fuck are you!?”  
  
“No need to be rude,” Antonio pouted. “I'm Antonio, remember? And you fainted in the middle of the street, and I didn't know where you lived...”  
  
“Wait. Hold on. You are...the guy from my nightmare! Oh god, am I still asleep? I want to wake up. Make me wake up!”  
  
Antonio sighed a bit. “I was hoping you were going to say dreams instead of nightmare, but alright then... No, Lovino. You aren't dreaming. This is the harsh reality.”  
  
Lovino's eyes widened. “W-Wait... How do you know my name?”  
  
“Your wallet.”

“And... why didn't you look up where I live?”  
  
“...Oops.”  
  
Lovino stood up, and rolled his eyes, before he walked past Antonio. The taller man wanted to follow him, but he needed to make the boy feel a bit more comfortable around here. After all, he was most likely going to stay here for a long time...  
  
When the young man finally came out of the room, fully dressed, Antonio smiled at him. “Let's go downstairs, I will make you some food.”  
  
Lovino seemed to tense at his words, but then he just continued to walk, so Antonio shrugged it off.  
  
They went downstairs together, and Antonio started to make food. When he had his back turned to Lovino, however, he suddenly heard something moving fast, and then footsteps, which were quickly running outside.  
  
“Wait!” Antonio yelled. He immediately went after the boy, but stopped at the doorway.  
  
“Seriously now!? You live in the middle of a fucking forest!? What the fuck!?” Lovino angrily kicked the wall of the wooden house.  
  
“Ay! Careful with my wall!”  
  
“WHAT THE FUCK!?” Lovino screamed again, before he fell down on his knees. Antonio just stood there, not really knowing what to do. So he just went over to the young man, wrapped his arms around his waist and lifted him up. Ignoring Lovino's screams and cries, he dragged him inside, and shoved him on the almost broken couch.  
  
It was old and dusty inside his house, but he just didn't like to go into the human world that much. He had tried earlier, but eventually they became suspicious... No, it was way better to be around here. At least that meant that no one could bother him...  
  
Lovino tried to struggle for a while, but gave up when he realised that he couldn't escape this.  
  
“Listen, Lovino...”  
  
“Are you going to let me go home?” the human asked, looking up at Antonio with big, wet eyes. The older man felt a bit bad... but he couldn't let his new catch go away. Not now, at least....  
  
“It depends.”  
  
“On what?”  
  
“You'll see.”  
  
“O-Oh...”  
  
Antonio sat down next to him. “Look... It's not that horrible, you see? I mean, you can walk here freely, if you're hungry you can ask me for food, if you need a hug you can do that too... And if you're tired you can sleep in my bed....Though we have to sleep there together because the couch will be uncomfortable... And I will only feed off of you once in a while. Which will be long from now, since I already had my meal yesterday.” He smiled, hoping that Lovino would feel comfortable soon. “If you need anything, you can ask me. I am nice, I don't bite. And when I do... I will tell you. So you can prepare yourself~”  
  
Lovino looked up at the man, and then sighed. “So... you kidnapped me...”  
  
“No, it's not like that...”  
  
“WHAT IS IT THEN!?” The younger boy almost flew towards Antonio, and grabbed his collar with both of his fists. “You took me here after you fucking attacked me, and now you won't let me go home! That's what I call kidnapping!” He clenched his teeth, and finally let the man go. “And now I have no purpose anymore in here, so I'm going outside. See you.”  
  
The Italian disappeared, leaving Antonio alone in the living room. There was nothing that could be done about it, the vampire guessed. He figured that Lovino wouldn't walk away on his own, seeing that his house was in the middle of a dark forest, but he still couldn't take any risk...  
  
He looked outside through the dusty window. To his relief, he saw the top of the boy's head. It would be the best to just leave him alone for now...  
  
He wondered how he could make his boy want to stay with him.. He could understand him, he really could, but even though that was the case, he needed Lovino to stay with him. And Antonio was ready to do a lot of things to make that happen.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, Lovino~"

Antonio smiled when he finally saw him coming into the living room.

"What," the other snarled.

"Well, I wanted to ask you if you wanted dinner..."

Lovino rolled his eyes. "No. Don't need food. Now leave me alone." He sighed loudly, and walked past the man, heading upstairs. He went straight into the room where his clothes had been before. This was going to be his own room now. And he didn't give a fuck that he had to sleep on the floor!

He let himself slide down against the wall until he sat on the ground. He let out a soft huff as he stared at the grey wall in front of him. It had several cracks in it. This house really looked as if it had been build a long, long time ago. By Antonio himself. Or maybe his slaves. Yes. He had kidnapped other people and made them his slaves. Then he had forced them to build this house and after that he had sucked their blood until they were empty and died, and then he had thrown them in the basement to rot. Yep. That was exactly what had happened. He was sure of it.

"Hey, Lovino?"

God fucking Jesus! Didn't he just tell that annoying fucker that he wanted to be left alone!?

He let his chin rest on his knees, and ignored the man. Disgusting vampire...

"Lovino... I know that you are here..."

How, could he smell him? Probably...

"Okay, since you won't be coming out of here, I'm going to leave your food in front of the door. I will be downstairs if you need me, and I will tell you when I go to sleep, alright? If you are tired, you can already go to sleep..."

Lovino could hear a few sounds, before he heard footsteps going into another direction. When they finally faded, Lovino let out a soft sigh of relief and frustration at the same time. He was glad that the vampire didn't come inside. He hated him... Even though he had given Lovino food. But then again, he still had to wait and see if it was good... Maybe there was poison in it.

He clutched at his stomach when he suddenly felt like it was being squished, followed by a low rumble. Fuck... That was true... He didn't eat this whole day...

He pressed his ear against the door, but it was silent. He pushed the door open with a squeak. A steaming hot plate with all kinds of food was placed on the floor. Lovino licked his lips, when his stomach again begged for attention. He quickly looked around in the small hallway, still on his hands and knees, and then shoved the plate inside.

He stared at the food; several kinds of meat and vegetables. But... wait. Wait! Where the fuck did this bastard get his meat from!? Oh shit... This was the meat of the slaves! The rotten meat!

With a loud smack, Lovino threw the flesh against the wall. He closed his eyes as he leaned back against the other wall.

He could imagine the vampire cooking... And then he would walk upstairs, and knock on Lovino's door, telling him that he had put his whole heart in his cooking... Oh shit! What if he had actually put his heart in it? And that was why he needed so much blood from others! And then Lovino would have to eat Antonio's heart – which he wouldn't mind if that meant that the bastard would die. But no, he had to be alive and rob someone off their blood. And that someone just had to be Lovino...

He growled loudly. Not more than a second after, his stomach joined in. He really needed to eat something...

Unable to stay stubborn for much longer now his stomach was protesting, he slowly reached out and took a new piece of meat. He took a little bite, still hesitating. Hmm... Chicken~

His small bites turned into big ones. Damn, this food was good... After a while he found himself even moaning at the food, and he quickly covered his mouth, eyes wide. Fuck, what the hell was he doing!? Control, Lovi, control. This is just food. Delicious, orgasmic food, but still, just fucking food! Ugh...

Fuck, now he had to sleep in here, right? He lied down, shivering a bit at the coldness of the hard floor. He had to deal with it for now though. No way that he was going to lie next to this Antonio bastard...

He softly started to hum a song, trying to calm himself down. When he slightly relaxed, his humming slowly changed into singing. Antonio was downstairs anyway, so there was nothing to be worried about...

" _Bésame y a destiempo~ Sin piedad y en silencio~ Bésame, frena el tiempo~ Haz crecer lo que siento..._ "

* * *

Lovino slowly opened his eyes. There was a very uncomfortable feeling in his lower stomach. Fuck... He really needed to pee. And he wasn't going to lower himself to the point of taking a piss outside. Just- no.

He stood up, and stretched his body, stiff from lying on the hard floor. He looked out of the window, noticing that it was really, really dark. He could see many stars, way more than he could see at home... And also, the dark shadows of the trees were there.

Lovino shivered. Everywhere around the house could be monsters lurking... That thought made the hairs on his neck stand up straight. Oh fuck, he didn't want to stay in this room anymore!

He slowly moved towards the door, and pushed it open. The black shadows on the cracked, grey walls weren't appealing either... He really did not want to stay here. He didn't want to go on a search for the toilet in this darkness either... Thank god the door to Antonio's room was close!

He pushed it open, and ran towards the bed, silently cursing at himself for being such a damn coward.

Antonio was sprawled on top of the white covers, a bit of drool dripping own the corner of his mouth. He looked really- Never mind.

Lovino grabbed the man's shoulders and shook him with great force. "Oi, stronzo! Wake up!"

Only after a while, Antonio finally opened his eyes, groaning. "Ah... Lovino... Stop hurting me..."

The Italian quickly let the man go, not wanting to touch him any longer than necessary. Antonio sat up, rubbing his eyes. This movement made the muscles of his bare stomach clearly visible. Not that it was appealing to Lovino.

"Hey, Lovino! Did you finally decide to sleep next to me?" the older man said as soon as he was able to focus.

The other quickly shook his head. "No! I'm not! I just...really needed to pee..."

A soft laugh was the answer. "Ah... The bathroom is at the other side of the hall. You should be able to find it, since-"

"Do you know how fucking dark it is!? And you don't even have lights!"

Antonio let out a soft sigh, while he rubbed the back of his head. "You see, I don't really need them... I can see clearer than humans in the dark. Ah, I guess I will have to show you the way then..." The vampire stepped out of the bed. "Do I have to hold your hand?"

"What!? What the actualy fuck are you even thinking, you stronzo!" Lovino stepped back. "You just show me the way, and then you fucking stay there until I'm done, and then we go back again." Lovino groaned, and walked towards the door. "Come on!"

"Yes, yes..." Antonio quickly followed him, and opened the door. He walked towards the end of the hall, leading Lovino to another room.

The Italian entered, and quickly slammed the door shut. He looked around him, examining the room. Everything was visible enough, due to the moonlight making its way through a window at the top of the wall. Soon enough, Lovino found the toilet. He felt tired... How did he look? Ah... There were no mirrors in this room. He would have to search for another one then...

After he was done, he quickly opened the door again. Upon entering the hallway, he looked straight into bright green eyes. It was as if they were shining, emitting green light. They reminded Lovino of cat eyes...

He shook his head, and walked next to Antonio, back to the bedroom. Without saying a word, the young man stripped from his pants and socks, and lied down on one side of the bed. He just hoped that Antonio wouldn't make a comment on it... He curled up at the far edge of the bed. He was definitely not looking for physical contact with Antonio.

He could feel and hear how the other stepped into his bed, chuckling. "Good night, Lovino~" the older man said – almost singing.

"Hrm..."

* * *

When Lovino woke up, Antonio was gone. He could hear him though. Somewhere outside the room he was walking, doing things. Lovino didn't know what this clanging, clattering was. He didn't care.

He stood up, and yawned a bit. In the corner of the bedroom he saw a closet. He figured that he could go there and looked for clothes. Wearing the same clothes for this long was just... disgusting.

Lovino opened the closet, and chose a dark green shirt that looked as if it was not too big for him. Damn, Antonio was much bigger than him...

He stood against the door, in case the vampire decided to barge in while he was naked. Quickly he changed his boxers, pants and shirts, and then stepped out of the room. The hall looked a lot less scary in the light...

"Ah! Lovino! There you are!"

Lovino quickly looked up as soon as he heard that voice. He still didn't trust this man...

He could see how Antonio quickly put his hands in his pockets. "I didn't think you would be awake already... Are you hungry?"

"Stop fucking asking me that already, damn it!" Without another word, the Italian stomped down the stairs. "And if you really need to know, YES, I am hungry!"

He made his way to, were he remembered, the living room. Fuck this shit, everything was dusty... And if he had to stay here, the house should at least be clean! If Antonio wasn't going to do this, he would do this himself!

He quickly searched through the hall, and found the cleaning supplies soon enough. He started on the windows. Damn, he almost couldn't see through them...

When he was done with them, he stretched his arms. He needed to go outside, but he had to wait with that... The door was locked, and the key wasn't in any visible place.

"Ah, Lovino!"

The Italian jumped, dropping his wet cloth. "What the hell!?" When most of the shock was over, he glared at Antonio. "Don't just fucking do that!"

"Lo siento, Lovino. Are you cleaning the house? You didn't have to do that, you know."

"Yes I did! I'm almost suffocating in here because all the fucking dust!"

Antonio shook his head, laughing softly in amusement. "So you will be my new housewife?"

"Hell no!" Lovino stomped towards the kitchen and grabbed a bucket, filling it with water. He pushed it harshly in Antonio's hands. "You are going to do some work. I'm not the only one in this fucking house! You are going to do everything downstairs, I'm going up."

Lovino walked past the other, about to go upstairs, but a whine stopped him. "Wait! Can't you go downstairs?"

"Like hell! I'm saying that it is like this so get your fucking ass to work!"

He didn't leave the other a chance to complain, he was already upstairs. The most important thing was now the bathroom. He went there, a cloth over his shoulder and a bucket in his hand – but then he noticed something strange. He put his bucket down, and went around the corner. There was another door he hadn't seen before... He slowly, carefully stepped closer to it. "What the actual fuck..."

His eyes scanned the door. It was black, unlike all the other brown doors. The painting was done sloppily, as if there hadn't been much time. Some parts of the paint were even on the floor and the wall. But still, it wouldn't be anything special, if it wasn't for the chains and huge lock that were keeping the door in its place. Antonio was definitely hiding something behind this... Lovino slowly let his fingers brush over the lock, looking if there was maybe a way to open it...

"What are you doing?"

Lovino let out a not-that-manly scream, and he quickly turned around. His eyes were wide as he stared straight into Antonio's. His usual smile had disappeared, and he was almost glaring, a red shade appearing over his eyes.

Lovino blinked, not knowing what to do.

"I asked you something."

"A..."

It was silent again, and it took Lovino a few moments to pull himself together. It was the best to just be honest. After all, he hadn't done anything wrong, right? ...Right?

"I... I wanted to clean t-the bath...room..." He repeatedly shook his head. Antonio's glare was sending shivers down his spine, and somehow he felt the cold sweat on his forehead.

"Continue?"

Antonio's dark gaze didn't leave Lovino's eyes even for one second.

"And...I...I noticed the door..."

"You were sticking your nose in places it doesn't belong."

"I-I...didn't mean to-"

"It's fine. Go back downstairs, and NEVER LOOK AT THAT DOOR AGAIN!"

Lovino flinched, nodded shortly, and then escaped. His steps were slow at first, but as soon as he was around the corner, he made a dash down the stairs, leaving Antonio behind.

...

It was only after a long time that the vampire showed himself. Im the mean time, Lovino had cleaned the whole lower floor, and was now sitting on the couch, staring out of the window. He was lost in his thoughts, until Antonio lied his hand on the boy's shoulder, causing him to flinch. The Italian quickly turned his head. Antonio's smile was back, even though it was obviously a forced one.

"Look, Lovino... Lo siento for what happened earlier. I just... You just shouldn't come near that room again, okay?"

Lovino scooted away from the man. Even the tiniest bit of trust the Spaniard had managed to gain was now vanished.

The other seemed to recognise this too, as he stepped back. "Look... Can we maybe do something together to forget it?"

The Italian shook his head, without hesitating. He didn't want to be close to Antonio for longer than needed...

"Hm... Alright. We can read, if you want. Just look." Antonio gestured to a bookcase just near the door. "You can pick anything you want." He walked over to the books, and picked one for himself. "Do you maybe want this one?"

"..."

"Alright... If you want something, you are allowed to read. And... if you are hungry, you go to the kitchen, ¿sí?" He showed the boy a smile, before he sat down in the recliner. He started to read something, while Lovino just decided to ignore him.

After a while though, he was so bored... Maybe reading would really be a nice change.

He just chose a random book, since he didn't really know any of those... He sat down in the other recliner, crossing one leg over the other as he let his thoughts wander off.

This whole situation was just... strange. Confusing. And above all that, his brother must be worried... Very, very worried. Lovino himself was worried, he knew that at least... Feliciano was an idiot. Lovino had no idea if this boy would manage on his own. After all, he was too kind to strangers and he was cute and attractive on top of that. Not that he would ever tell him that though. But all of this meant that he would be an easy prey for rapists, criminals, or maybe even people like Antonio... Would his blood taste good? He didn't even want to know...

Without even realising it, Lovino let his hand go up, to lightly touch his neck. What about his own blood? Did it really taste that good that Antonio had to kidnap him for it...?

Lovino looked up at the man. Antonio was still reading his book, his brows furrowed and the tip of his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth. It looked as if he was confused about something. Maybe now wasn't the best time to ask him things like this...

However, when Lovino looked back into his book, the Spaniard had already noticed him.

"Do you need something?"

Lovino quickly looked away. "Uh..."

"You aren't bothering me, just so you know."

"What!? You can read my thoughts too now!?"

"¿Qué? You were actually thinking that!?"

"Eh—No! Of course not, why would I-"

"What did you want, Lovino?"

Oh, yeah, that...

"Um... Why do vampires need blood?"

Antonio's expression fell, making Lovino shudder. This was something normal to wonder, right? After all, he was the one who had to experience this! He was the victim in here, wasn't he?

Antonio seemed to be lost for a while, until he remembered what was going on again. "Oh... Um... We just... like it, I guess. And if we don't have blood for a long time... bad things happen. Do you understand?"

There was some kind of warning in that last sentence, and Lovino could tell that Antonio was faking a smile again. But still, he was too curious to just let it slip. "What kind of-"

"Just. Things."

That was his clue not to say anything anymore. "Oh..."

Lovino stood up, he wanted to escape from this awkward situation... He let himself fall on the couch behind the recliners. Antonio didn't look at him anymore. Lovino didn't care... did he? Something was bugging him though. He got that strange uncomfortable feeling in his chest whenever he saw Antonio like that. But it wasn't fear...

Ah...Well... He closed his eyes. He would think about that another time. Right now, he was going to sleep. And maybe think of a way to get out of here.


	3. Chapter 3

The Italian woke up by the delicious smell of food. He sat up, and looked through the window between the kitchen and the living room. He saw Antonio, or at least his back. The man was making food. From this place Lovino couldn't really see what exactly he was making... But he wanted to know! At least it smelled nice...

Lovino stood up, and entered the kitchen. Antonio looked up, with a bright smile on his face. "¡Hola! Did you finally wake up? I'm cooking something for us!"

God damn it, this guy had moodswings... Why did he sound this god damn excited?

"Hrm," Lovino growled, while he sat down on one of the wooden chairs. "What are you making?"

"Paella."

Paella? Lovino had heard of that... Well, at least it smelled delicious. And he had enjoyed the meal from yesterday, so he hoped that this one was also just as good... if not better.

Not too long after, the Spaniard put the food on a plate, and sat down in front of Lovino, still smiling. "Enjoy your meal, Lovino~" He shoved it towards the other.

The Italian blinked a bit.

"Oh, am I making you uncomfortable?" Antonio asked, when the next moments were filled with an awkward silence. "I didn't mean to do that, you know."

"U-Uh, no... It's fine." Lovino had said it before he even knew it. "...Bastard."

He started to eat, and found that, yet again, his food was delicious. He wasn't going to let Antonio know that though...

When Lovino was finished, he shoved the plate away, and leaned back. Antonio was almost done too. Although the meal was eaten in silence, it was really... calming somehow. For the first time in Antonio's house, he felt at ease.

It was already starting to get dark when Antonio finally decided to go to sleep. The two had spent the rest of their time with washing the dishes and reading books.

Antonio stood up, smiling at the younger boy. "Let's go~"

Lovino followed the other upstairs. He didn't really feel like talking to him, still, but... it wasn't such a huge problem anymore. Maybe... they would even be able to freely talk to each other about every kind of subject...

The Italian went to the bathroom, and started to brush his teeth. When he was almost done, Antonio joined him. Damn, he had to be glad the Spaniard still had a spare toothbrush...

Lovino put his stuff away, and watched as Antonio carefully cleaned his fangs. It was still a very strange idea that the had to live with a vampire now, and he didn't know if he was ever going to get used to it...

"Hey, um, bastard..."

"Yes, Lovi? What is it?"

Lovino raised a brow at the sudden 'nickname', but decided not to say anything about it.

"I was just wondering... Why don't you have mirrors in your house?"

Antonio chuckled. "Do you think you need one?"

"Well... It's always nice to know for sure that there's nothing on my face..."

"Ah, you see, we vampires don't need mirrors. We always look beautiful~"

Lovino blinked; he couldn't deny this... If Antonio hadn't done the scary things he did, maybe he would date him...

"Hehe~ I'm just kidding, Lovi. The truth is, I don't really like to look at myself..."

"And what about sunlight? Don't you guys hate that?"

That made Antonio laugh, followed by a pout from Lovino.

"Ah, it always amuses me how much humans think they know about us. Most of the things you hear aren't true. For example, you won't turn into a vampire just because I bit you..."

A sigh of relief followed.

"We need a special ritual for that. Vampires of the higher classes like my f- can do this ritual."

The conversation carried on into the bedroom. Lovino stripped from his pants, and... decided that he could actually remove his shirt too. He crawled under the blankets, and waited for Antonio to come next to him.

"But... about the sunlight... your eyes, yesterday... I saw them becoming all light and stuff..."

"Well... do you know how the eyes of some animals work?"

The older man lied down too, and smiled softly while he looked at Lovino. "We can see better in the dark: our eyes reflect the light. But of course, as soon as it's completely dark in a room we are just as helpless as you guys."

It was silent for a little while. Antonio leaned back, and closed his eyes. "Buenas noches, Lovi~"

"Hm... Yeah."

* * *

The morning was almost the same as the previous one. Lovino woke up in an empty bed, with sounds coming from the hallway next to him. It would be no use to wonder what exactly it was. Maybe he would find out later, maybe not. It didn't matter.

He went to the bathroom, again, and made himself ready for the day. But when he saw the shower... a question rose in his mind. He hadn't wondered this before, but... how the hell did this house have such a technology when it was only in the middle of a forest? He didn't know very much of technology... But he thought that it would be strange if a house like this was this fancy... If it could be called that.

He dressed himself with Antonio's clothes again, before he walked out. He went downstairs, seeing the man sitting on the couch, eating breakfast.

"Good morning," he chirped, beaming at Lovino. "Your breakfast is still in the kitchen, do you want to join me?"

Lovino looked at him for a bit. "I-I'm not going to sit next to you, if you thought that!"

Antonio pouted a little bit, but Lovino ignored that. He went to the kitchen, and brought a plate back to the living room. As he said, he didn't sit next to Antonio, but on a chair near him. While he ate, he decided to ask his question...

"Hey, asshole. Why do you have all this weird technology?"

"Weird? What do you mean?" Antonio asked in confusion, ignoring the insult.

"Well, your fucking house is in the middle of a fucking dark forest, and I don't see any other houses around either!"

Antonio chuckled softly. "You don't see them... But not too far away from this place is a village."

Lovino could see how the man's eyes widened slightly, and he smirked. His kidnapper had been too reckless...

"Now I'm thinking about it, I need to go there later, my friend lives there and I need to visit him."

Lovino was surprised. And not a little bit... Was Antonio going to let him escape now...?

"And you, you have to go with me."

"I... What?"

"I don't want to leave you alone in this house. You might starve, or get hurt, or not find your way to the toilet..."

"Damn it! I know where the fucking toilet is, I'm not retarded!"

"Lo siento, lo siento..." A small but happy smile appeared on the Spaniard's face. "You should stay with me at all times. And... there are other vampires. It's dangerous out there, so stay close to me."

Lovino looked at the man, still thinking about it. At least then he would know of a way to escape, if he managed to sneak out of this house.

He nodded slowly.

"Oh...Uh...Lovi? I need to show everyone there that you are mine."

"Y-Yours?"

Antonio nodded. Was that a... sad expression on his face...?

"Well... I'm sorry, Lovino. But I have to do it again."

He... He didn't mean... right...? His heart sped up when he saw Antonio standing up and coming closer to him.

"N-No... I don't want..." He quickly shook his head. "No... don't!"

The man gripped his shoulder. Lovino squirmed, trying to escape.

"Lovi... Lovi! Lovino, please... It will only hurt more when you act like this. Calm down, okay?"

"No! I don't want it!"

"Lovi!"

Antonio held the younger man firmly. "Shh... Please, calm down... Or else you will get attacked. And that will only hurt more. And we both don't want that..."

Lovino stopped squirming, but he was still trembling. "P-Please, I don't want..."

"I'm sorry, Lovi. I really am."

The Spaniard wrapped his arms around Lovino, trying to keep him still, and quickly sunk his teeth into the boy's skin. It was just enough to make a small wound. Antonio sucked a little blood out, his lips never losing contact with Lovi's skin as he did this.

He rubbed the boy's shoulder softly, before he let go after a while. Lovino was still trembling hard, and his heart was beating fast. He shuddered when he felt a wet tongue go over his wounds.

Then he saw Antonio's bright green eyes in front of him, a gentle, apologising smile present on his tan face. "Now, was that so bad?"

"Yes, it was!" Lovino yelled, crossing his arms.

"I'm sorry... We can't cover the bite now, since if we did that it would lose its purpose..." He gently rubbed the Italian's arm again. "How can I make you feel better?"

Food. His brother. Wine. Freedom. A kiss. Wait, what?

"I don't know... Tomatoes."

"Tomatoes? Alright, we will see if Francis has them at his house."

Lovino quickly stood up. "Let's go now, bastard. I want this to be over as soon as possible, do you understand?" It was always better to be in a place he knew...

"Hmm. We can go, okay."

The Italian walked towards the door, and put his shoes on. He froze a bit when the man took his hand in his own. He knew exactly why. So he wouldn't run away... Tch. As if Lovino would be so stupid as to run when there was a full grown man next to him, and a vampire at that!

The door was closed again, and the two walked away from the house. Immediately they got greeted by a huge amount of trees. There was a little path through the bushes. It was clearly a path that came into existance by someone repeatedly walking there.

"Hey, Lovino," Antonio suddenly said, shaking Lovino from his thoughts.

"What."

"We can't go through here together... I can carry you!"

"Carry me? I'm not a stupid baby!"

"I know, I know, but-"

"And stop fucking squeezing my hand all the damn time!"

"Lo siento, lo siento~"

Why did Lovino get the feeling that he didn't mean even a little tiny bit of that..?

"You can choose. Do you want me to carry you on my back, or in my arms?"

"None."

"But Loviiii!"

"Damn, you are annoying!" Lovino stomped on the ground as soon as he heard that whine. "Ugh, god damn it! Fine, if you keep insisting, then I have no other choice..."

He put both hands on Antonio's shoulders – even though the latter was still holding his hand – and pulled himself up. He wrapped his legs around the man's waist, and his arms around his neck. Maybe a bit too tight, in the hope of crushing the man...

He let out an annoyed sigh as the Spaniard started to sing an overly happy song while they walked.

"Stop the singing already, asshole."

It was quiet for a while, and Lovino used this time simply to enjoy the silence.

"Solo para tiiiiiiiii~!"

"Agh!" He should have known that this was never going to work!

"Dazzling girl, dazzling lo- OW! Lovi, that hurt!"

The Italian smirked. He had deserved that kick...

They both relaxed after a little while – even though Antonio occasionally rubbed his side.

"So..." the younger man mumbled after a while. "What exactly makes you think that two people can't go through here together? Even with you clinging onto my hand there would be enough space for the both of us."

"Hehe..."

Lovino rolled his eyes. Something this man seemed to make him do a lot... He could just picture the stupid grin on the Spaniard's face. He growled loudly. "I want to go down."

"But Lov- OW!"

Antonio let Lovino down, and immediately took his hand again. Even though the boy didn't like it, it was better than being on his back...

Soon enough they could hear water in the distance.

"What's there?" Lovino asked, turning his head towards the sound.

"Ah... There's a river. We don't have to go there right now though. However, we need to follow the sound to reach the village."

Antonio continued to walk, and indeed, not long after they saw houses appearing into the distance.

Lovino squeaked when Antonio suddenly lied his arm over his shoulders. "Stay close," he whispered again. Not that Lovino had any other choice now... He was basically pressed against the man...

"This path is going straight towards my friend's house. We won't have to go through the village... However, some will be able to smelll your scent. Don't panic if you see one. I'm here, I will protect you."

A growl was the answer. He didn't need to be protected! He wasn't afraid, at all!

"Hrr..."

Lovino froze, when he heard something next to him. There were two faces in the bushes, staring at him with a hungry look. They didn't make a move though, possibly because Antonio was looking at them with that dark, scary glare...

"Don't look at them. Just keep walking," the Spaniard whispered, pulling the boy even closer to him.

Lovino's eyes widened. He could see how with every moment, more people appeared. All of them with the same hungry glare... He couldn't help but the grip Antonio's clothes in his hands, seeking for comfort.

"Lo siento. It will be over soon. We're almost there."

He was pretty sure that there were more than thirty people around them now...

Antonio hissed, but didn't stop walking.

Finally, as soon as they saw a big house in the distance, the creepy vampires slowly moved away. Antonio opened a small door with a key, and let Lovino inside.

It was dark in here...

The door got closed again, and immediately the light went on. Lovino blinked a bit, while he took a few steps back in Antonio's direction.

There was a man in front of them, with long, blond hair, tied in a ponytail. "Bonjour, mes amis," he sang, winking.

Lovino decided that he didn't like this man, and he took Antonio's hand in his own.

"Shh, Lovi... Hola, Francis~" Antonio smiled.

"Ah... I see you have brought your little friend with you~"

Francis walked closer to Lovino, making the younger one step back in a pathetic attempt to hide behind Antonio.

"Bonjour, mon petit cher~" The man smiled, and Lovino could clearly see the sharp fangs. Francis reached out, and caressed the Italian's cheek, before he went down to his neck. "Ah... Too bad that mon Antoine already claimed you..."

Antonio wrapped his free arm around Lovino, and pulled him close to his chest. "Sí, he is mine indeed. You can't change that, you know."

"I know, I know..." Francis laughed softly. And again, his teeth were visible. "Well, why don't you two come with me? I made food for the both of you~"

The man pushed his guests towards another room, and Lovino stared with big eyes. It was as if he was in a king's palace... Everywhere he looked, it was clearly visible that this man was rich. Very rich. It didn't help a bit to make Lovino feel more comfortable...

The Italian just kept watching the men while they were eating. He had to admit... he was scared. Very scared. He was even willing to crawl on Antonio's lap just to keep everyone else away. He should stay close to him...

After the two men were done with the food – Lovino didn't even take a single bite – they moved to the living room. Antonio and Francis didn't sit down on the same couch, fortunately. Lovino sat down on Antonio's couch, but still sat on the furthest edge. The Spaniard pouted a bit at him, but he ignored it.

"So..."

Francis folded his hands on his lap, and tilted his head a bit. "Lovino, was it?"

The Italian turned his head away, gritting his teeth.

"How has... Antoine... been treating you since he found you? You seem to like him a lot..."

"His name is Antonio, jerkface. And I don't like him, I just don't trust you."

Lovino shifted a bit, glaring angrily at the man, before he stood up. "Where's the fucking bathroom?"

"Ah! Lovi, I will show you~" Antonio stood up, and went out of the room. Lovino followed him on a distance. The two went through the hall, until they reached a door.

"Here it is. Do you want me to stay here until you are done?"

"Of course not. I can find my way back."

"Alright~" Antonio smiled for a moment, before he turned around and disappeared. Lovino entered the bathroom, and got greeted by... a mirror. Damn, it was long ago that he had seen his own face for the last time... He stood in front of the glass, and stared at himself. He looked a bit pale... but other than that, he looked good. Except for... He could clearly see two holes on the left side of his neck. He touched them with his fingertips. They were already starting to heal...

He went out of the room again. In fact he just left the other two because he didn't want to talk to Francis... Stupid jerk. He didn't like the way that bastard looked at Antonio. Also how he looked at Lovino himself...

He went closer to the living room, but stopped when he heard the two voices.

"Listen, Antonio. He's getting too close to you."

"Too close? I don't think he even likes me as a friend. How is that too close?"

"You know exactly how. At this rate you won't be able to-"

Lovino opened the door, and sat down on his original spot again – though this time he shoved himself a little bit closer to Antonio. He didn't need to hear their conversation about him.

"Lovi! You are back~" The Spaniard smiled happily, but Lovino wasn't fooled. However... he shrugged it off. His main worry right now was to stay the hell away from Francis...

Lovino managed to avoid most questions until dinner. All the time he didn't leave Antonio's side.

While they were eating, Lovino still didn't say anything. He took maybe two bites of his food, but left the rest. That was something strange about him... he never ate when he wasn't feeling comfortable, even if the food was good. Which it was. Not better than Antonio – Nothing was better than what he made – but... not bad. Still, he didn't eat.

After dinner, Antonio left the room. Lovino had the strong urge to walk after him, but that would seem weird... Thus, he was left alone with Francis. Something he strongly disliked.

He stood up, not knowing what else to do.

The vampire saw that, and walked closer to him.

Lovino pressed his back against the wall in fear, when he saw the other's blue eyes, cold as ice. The glare was directed towards him, that was something that was sure.

"Listen...  _Lovi_... I know that you heard what I said," -The boy gasped- "but I will repeat it for you. You are getting too close to him."

"Wa...What..." Lovino was in shock for a moment, before he regained himself. "I don't know what the hell you are blabbering about, but I am NOT close to that stronzo! I hate him! He took me away from my brother – damn, he might as well be dead! – I'm forced to stay in his god damn house, and on top of that, he sucks my blood every damn time he gets the chance! Why the hell would I even like him?"

"Because he protects you."

"Wha-"

"You always wanted to be protected."

"How...do you..."

There was a terrifying scream, making its way even into Lovino's bones. What the hell...?

He used the moment of confusion for both him and Francis, to escape to the hallway. The sound had come from upstairs... Lovino walked towards where he thought the sound had been from.

The first thing he saw, made his heart drop. Antonio was standing in front of a big mirror, his hand stretched. The man seemed to caress his own reflection, a strange look in his eyes and an almost insane smile. "You are...there..." he mumbled. "Don't worry... I will protect you..."

Who the hell was he talking to?

"I love you..."

To Lovino?

"I'll be there..."

But he didn't seem to recognise any of his surroundings...

"A..." Lovino started, but he stopped when the man quickly lifted his head and glared darkly at him. Before the Italian could react, Antonio turned away and, with a swift swipe of his arm, buried his fist into the mirror, letting it break into several pieces. It shattered over the floor, and Antonio dropped to his knees. His bleeding hand picked up a few of the shards, and he brought them to his face, kissing them softly.

Lovino didn't have the time to wonder what the hell was going on; he got pushed aside by Francis. The vampire looked up at Lovino, and hissed at him, his eyes turning dark.

"Leave."

Without protests, the Italian quickly ran downstairs. He wondered what the hell was going on, but he knew that he couldn't stay there any longer. He locked himself in the bathroom, and stared at his own reflection. What was so special about Antonio's one to make him go insane like that...? What the hell had happened to Antonio to make him like that? It must be something terrible...

When Lovino finally came out, it was already dark. Damn, he had been in there for a longer time than he had thought. Seeing as it was summer, the darkness proved that it was at least after 11. Long after, considering it was pretty dark. Too dark! Ugh, fuck this fear!

He rushed upstairs. Why the hell had that Francis bastard not called him? He probably didn't even care what happened to Lovino...

The Italian slowly pushed a door open, and got greeted by an empty bedroom. Nope, not there... The next room though...

When he opened it, he saw something lying on the bed. Was it a monster? Or Francis, maybe? He didn't know what would be worse...

"Lo...vi?"

He blinked a bit, when he saw the figure sitting up. Antonio reached his arms out for Lovino. The young man kicked off his shoes – he already forgot that he had been wearing them – and slowly walked closer to the bed. When he was close enough, the Spaniard suddenly pulled him close. Lovino let out a shocked gasp, while he got pressed against Antonio's chest.

"Shh, Lovi... Everything is okay now..."

He wanted to push himself away, but it only resulted in Antonio holding him even tighter. He had no choice now...

"Lovi... Stay with me... Don't leave... ¿Por favor?"

"Listen, you... you... i-idiot..."

"Hm? What is it?"

"I have no fucking idea what the fuck happened, with that mirror, but..."

"I'm sorry about that, Lovi... So sorry..."

"It... It was..."

"Scary?"

The Italian nodded shyly.

"Lo siento. It won't happen again, ¿sí?"

"I-If you say so..."

Antonio cupped Lovino's face with his bandaged hand. "Tomorrow we will go home again, and then everything will be okay, you see?"

"Hm..."

"Now close your eyes, okay? It's time to sleep."

"Yeah..."

Lovino managed to strip from almost all of his clothes wile Antonio was holding him tightly. He always kept his boxers on though, just in case...

The older man lied back, so Lovino was lying on top of him. It wasn't the most comfortable... but the other seemed to really want to keep him close...

He closed his eyes, but it took him long to fall asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

It was warm... So warm... He liked the warmth. He pressed himself against it, sighing softly in content. It was also soft... soft, but still strong, and steady. He slowly opened his eyes, and...

"AAGH!"

He quickly pushed himself away from the snoring and drooling man... but ended up kicking him out of the bed instead. With a loud smack and an "OW!" Antonio hit the floor. Lovino growled, and looked away. He could hear how the other stood up with a few groans.

"Lovi, why did you do that..."

The Italian growled again. "You were fucking drooling on m- HOW THE FUCK DID YOUR SPIT END UP ON MY FUCKING SIDE!?"

Lovino harshly gripped Antonio's wrist, and used his hand to wipe it away.

"Ay... Lo siento, Lovi, but I move a lot in my sleep. You don't mind it, right?"

"It's fucking disgusting."

"I-"

"You were licking my side! My fucking side! I can understand my face-" he shuddered at the thought, "But my fucking side?" He crossed his arms, and glared at Antonio. "That I agreed- got forced to sleep in the same bed as you doesn't mean that you are allowed to cling to me like that! I couldn't even breathe!"

"Well, yesterday you didn't seem to mind it that much..."

"That was yesterday! And I was just tired is all. Hmpf!" Lovino stepped out of the bed and gathered his clothes, ignoring the man's pout.

"But Loviiiii!"

"What!?"

"Why won't you allow me?"

"Because I will only allow someone that if we are dating or if it's my brother. Sometimes."

"I can't be your brother, so... can we da-"

"NO!"

"Why not?"

"Because I said no, that's why!" He quickly stormed out of the room, escaping this awkward situation. Alright, maybe Francis was right... Maybe he was really too close to Antonio. Ugh... He constantly forgot to hate the man.

He sighed softly when he heard the door suddenly opening. "Lovi! We need to go home!"

"Wha-"

He got grabbed by his shoulder and pulled downstairs. "Antonio, what the hell!?"

"We need to be quick – we weren't even supposed to stay here!"

The Spaniard now moved his hand to Lovino's own, and gripped it tightly. They disappeared the same way they came into the house.

"And what about that jerk?"

"Francis will understand."

Antonio ran over the path, pulling Lovino with him. The Italian almost couldn't hold on, and when Antonio realised that, he took the boy in his arms. Lovino was forced to wrap his legs around the man's waist as he bounced up and down. It reminded him of – He was not going there.

But still, he didn't see where the need to hurry came from... There weren't even other vampires! Probably because they were so fast... But that still didn't explain anything!

Antonio was panting heavily when they finally reached his house. He dropped Lovino in the living room, and quickly ran away. Lovino took a few moments trying to calm down at least a little. He sat up when he saw Antonio running past the door, wondering once again what the problem was. Through the window he could see the vampire running outside and disappearing between the trees. Seriously... What the hell...!?

He figured that he should just wait for him to come home again... He went to the kitchen, and grabbed an apple to eat. But when he came back... he noticed that the door was open. This was his chance! To escape, to meet his brother again... to be free!

Without thinking, he dropped his fruit and ran. He ran, and ran. He didn't even know where he was going. He just ran. Even when he was tired, he continued running.

"Hey!"

He quickly turned around when he heard the sudden voice, but he got punched in the face before he could see anyone. With a yell he fell on the ground.

"Heh... You are the Fernández kid, aren't you?"

He turned around, and looked straight into a grinning face, its mouth full with sharp teeth. Lovino could feel how the cold sweat broke out on his forehead and around his whole torso. When he looked up into those dark, red eyes, he knew that this was going to be his last day...

"I... I don't know...?"

His voice wasn't more than a whisper.

The man put his foot on Lovi's chest in a not that gentle manner. "You don't know? Tell me again who you were with yesterday."

"Y-Yesterday?" he squeaked. "W-With... A-Anto-"

"With Antonio, yes. I have to thank him later for bringing such an easy meal." The vampire laughed at Lovino. The Italian looked around in fear, only to see that there were more of the monsters closing in.

"Antonio! Feliciano! Help me! Mamaaaaaa!"

He started to scream in panic, but they only seemed to attract more of the monsters. All the same he kept screaming. Nobody came.

The vampire on top of him closed in and opened his mouth, ready to attack at every moment. Lovino closed his eyes, but didn't stop yelling; maybe that would hurt less...

"Stay away from my Lovino."

It was a low growl, clearly audible.

Lovino only had a few seconds to look at Antonio, a meat cleaver in his hand, his eyes red, before he Spaniard dashed forward. He lunged at the vampire on top of Lovino, and dug his bare hand straight through his skill, a gush of blood falling down. Antonio removed his hand, and the vampire fell down on the ground with an empty thunk. Lovino squeaked a bit when he saw half of the face falling next to his own.

Antonio stood in front of him, gripping the meat cleaver tightly. The other vampires closed in, but the Spaniard licked his blood-covered hand with an insane grin on his face. He started to swing his weapon around, planting it between eyes, in skulls, even slicing through faces, making the top of them fall off. One by one, the enemies fell down.

In the end, only Antonio was left standing. Panting, he turned around and extended his hand. Lovino couldn't move for a moment, but then he took the man's hand and got pulled up.

"Are you okay?" the Spaniard asked, smiling softly.

"U-Uh... I think so..."

He clung to the man's hand, still trembling. It was then that he noticed the blood seeping through Antonio's clothes.

"You- You are hurt!"

"I'm fine."

The vampire started to walk, obviously just trying to hide the fact that he was limping. And not even a little bit...

"Let me... help you," Lovino said softly, while he wrapped one arm around Antonio. The man supported himself by leaning heavily on the other.

"You... You saved my life..."

"Yeah. I did."

"And now you are hurt, because of me..."

"It... It's okay, Lovi. I didn't like them anyway. It's good that they are gone. This had to happen."

Together, the two tried to walk to Antonio's little house. "It's not far anymore," Lovino mumbled, still supporting the man.

The door to their house was still open, and Lovino quickly went to the living room, carefully dropping the older man on one of the couches. Without saying a word, he removed Antonio's shirt. He gasped when he saw a big wound straight across his stomach. He couldn't stop the tears from falling as he walked into the kitchen. He grabbed a wet cloth, and gently pressed it against the wound, removing the blood. He tried to ignore Antonio's hiss of pain, and just continued to remove the blood... until he felt a strong hand on his shoulder.

"Lo... Lovi...?"

"Y-Yes?"

"Can I... Can I drink? From you?"

Lovino shook his head. "Not now, I need to take care of your wound..."

"No... It will heal faster."

"A-Ah... If you are sure of that..."

Lovino sat down on the couch, next to the man, and leaned against his shoulder, presenting his neck. He allowed the Spaniard to wrap his arms around him and pull him close to his naked chest. Lovino lied his arms around Antonio, and leaned against his shoulder. He could feel how a tongue poked around his neck as if searching for something. He yelped a bit when he felt a sharp pain, but relaxed soon after. Everything was going to be okay, Antonio wasn't going to hurt him...

This time, he felt that more blood got sucked than the last times... But he was fine with it. It was going to make Antonio's wound heal... The one he had caused...

"Lovi... Lovino..."

"What!?"

It sounded more angry than he had meant to, but he couldn't help it.

"Ssshhh... Don't cry..."

"I-I'm not crying..."

"It's okay. Everything will be over soon."

"But... you got hurt. Because of me."

"Sshh. I'm already glad with having you by my side."

"Antonio..."

"Hm?"

Lovino buried his face into the other's chest, and sobbed quietly.

"It's okay... Está bien... Estoy aquí, ¿sí?" Antonio held the boy in a gentle embrace, and stroked his back, humming a song. "It's alright, Lovi..."

He continued these actions until he noticed that Lovino was fast asleep.

The Italian woke up by a loud scream. Worried that something had happened, he jumped out of the bed. He didn't remember how he had gotten there in the first place, but that didn't matter.

"A-Antonio?!"

He ran out of the room, just in time to see the door of the bathroom getting slammed shut and locked.

"Antonio!"

He slammed with his fists on the door repeatedly, but there was no answer, only a soft whimper. At that moment, Lovino noticed it. The door. The door. It was open.

He walked closer to it. He honestly wondered right now if he even wanted to see it... Whatever was in there had caused Antonio to react like that...

Something that sounded like a low grumble came from the room, followed by sounds of... eating? An animal eating. Maybe Antonio had a dog that was wild and attacked people? That would explain a lot...

He walked closer to the door, until he could look inside a bit. It was pitch black in there... The only light came from the hallway. He could see... a sack of rice? There were also all kinds of fur spread on the floor. He could see something moving next to a half-eaten bunny.

"Glarrburrgh..."

What the...?

He could hear something that sounded like shackles. That was the sound he heard every morning! His curiosity won, and he stepped inside.

Immediately, something flew towards him with a shrill shriek. The sound of shackles followed again, and the next moment, Lovino froze. He could again feel the cold sweat.

He stared straight into soulless, white eyes, a faint green still visible. Sharp, dark grey – to the point of almost black – sharp fangs, and this all placed in the face of a man. He looked as if he hadn't eaten in a year, and if it wasn't for the fact that he was letting out those breathy groans and gasps, and was trying to eat Lovino – only held back by those chains around his wrists – everyone would think that this man – or monster, was dead. Long dead, even.

Lovino got forced to step back, the monster could almost touch him... It was only then that he noticed something strange. The man's hair... It was long, ending right above the clearly visible hip bones, and a pale grey due to lack of light. On top of his head... it looked almost exactly like Antonio's.

Only now Lovino's brain started to work. He had to run! He backed out of the room as fast as he could, and slammed the door shut. He rushed to the bathroom.

"Antonio, you have to explai..."

The door swung open, revealing the sobbing man in the corner, his face hidden and his hands buried in his hair.

"A-Antonio..."

"I couldn't do it," the man muttered.

"You couldn't do what?"

"I... I couldn't do it... I couldn't, I couldn't!"

The Italian knelt down in front of the vampire, and looked him in his eyes. They were empty, and only now it was visible how much they looked like the monster's.

"Toni..."

He squeaked when he got grabbed and pulled in a tight embrace.

"I couldn't do it, Lovi..."

"I don't understand! Explain things to me!"

He could feel his cheek becoming wet, but this time it weren't his own tears. "Antonio, please..."

"We were too late, Lovino... We... I... I had to feed him, I was too late..."

"Sshh... Hey, I'm here." Lovino reached for a wet cloth, and used it to gently clean Antonio's face. "Calm down now, okay?"

"H-Hm..."

Lovino didn't know how to comfort people. Only his brother. So he leaned in, and pressed a soft kiss on the man's forehead.

"He... I... We..."

"No, calm down. I'm here. Okay?"

"Sí..."

"Okay. Now take a deep breath, and tell me what happened."

"He... My brother."

"He's your brother?"

Antonio nodded. "He was... falllen..."

"I... don't know what that means."

"No blood."

"Hm?"

"He didn't get his blood."

"Oh..."

Antonio buried his face into the smaller man's shoulder again. Lovino just held him close, and pressed several kisses on his head. "Shh, Antonio..."

All these things made Lovino even more confused. But right now he had to take care of Antonio.

He wanted to stand up to get him something to drink, but the Spaniard stopped him.

"Lovi...?"

"Yes?"

"Can you... sit next to me?"

"Okay."

Lovino sat down, and took the man's hand, squeezing it softly.

"Alright... Listen carefully now," Antonio started. "Do you remember when you asked me what happens when a vampire doesn't get enough blood?"

The Italian nodded. He swallowed when he saw the long, white scar on a visible part on Antonio's stomach.

"Well... They have to feed from someone at least about... twice a month. If that doesn't happen... the vampire will fall. He will become a creature without a mind, who tries to kill everything on its path. My brother... I tried to prevent him from falling completely. I... I gave him offers every morning. Forest animals I had caught. I... I was too late this morning..."

"Shh... I understand, Antonio..."

"You were meant for him."

"I was-WHAT!?"

"You were supposed to be his final offer. The one who would stop it forever."

"I... h-how..."

"It requires a human sacrifice to turn him back to normal."

"But- Why me!? Why couldn't you choose someone who has no use in their life anymore!? Why does it have to be me!?"

"Because you are Lovino Vargas."

Lovino wanted to pull his hand away, but Antonio stopped him from doing so.

"I... That's not my name! I'm Lovino To-"

"That's what they want you to believe."

"They?"

"Your father."

"Bullshit. He's dead."

Antonio wrapped one arm around Lovino's shoulders, pulling him closer. "I see how it is... I'm telling you the truth now, Lovi. Your father isn't dead. He's a vampire hunter."

"A WHAT!?"

"He's the one who kidnapped my brother and kept him away from any form of blood." His glare became darker. "So... I thought it would be good if I kidnapped his son, and used him to make my brother normal again... But I couldn't."

"You couldn't... because it was too late, right?"

"No. Because I fell in love with you."

…

Lovino stared straight into Antonio's eyes, gasping. "I... I don't think I heard that right..."

Antonio cupped the boy's cheek with one hand. "Lo siento, Lovi. I'm really sorry. Do you want me to take you back to your house?"

Lovino slowly shook his head. "Not yet. First..." He closed his eyes, and pressed his lips on Antonio's. He felt how the other started to kiss back, moaning a bit.

The Italian pulled away after a moment, and smiled softly when he saw the man's shocked face. "Now you can take me AAAAH!"

He shrieked when he felt something sharp digging in his leg. He got dragged back in the direction of the door. He screamed loudly. He kicked behind him, and his foot landed on something hard. The pain disappeared, and Lovino stood up.

"Lovi!"

Antonio broke the shower head off, and threw it towards Lovino.

The boy saw how something crawled towards him. Antonio's brother... He gripped the shower head firmly in his hands, but he was still trembling. It was his brother, after all...

"Do it, Lovi."

Smack!

The monster fell to the floor, a visible cut in the back of his head. Lovino panted a bit, trying to regain himself. But then he saw how the fallen vampire lifted his arms.

Whack!

There was a sickening crack. And another one. And yet another one. Lovino dropped the broken shower head to the floor. He was starting to feel dizzy... He blamed it on the vampire's head, which was now lying in three pieces on the floor. His legs were shaking, he felt how he slowly fell to the right.

"A... to..."

His vision became blurry. The pain in his leg shot up, stabbing through his whole body. He tried to step straight towards Antonio, gasping for air. "Ni...o..."

"Lovino!" Antonio caught the boy in his arms, and held him close. "Lovi! Lovi!" He lifted him up. The Italian looked as if he was having trouble breathing, and his heart was racing. Shit! He had been bitten!

Antonio wasted no time, and ran out of the house. A bite of a fallen vampire was not only very unhygienic and thus quick to spread infection, it also sucked the life out of someone. There was only one kind of people who had the potion for it... And that just had to be the vampire hunters. There was only one he knew how to find. The day his brother, his precious little brother, finally came home after he was kidnapped... he had given him directions. For revenge. That was the moment before he collapsed, and turned...

Antonio held his love close to his body, and rushed to follow those directions that were buried in his mind. "Lovi... Hold on... we're almost there..."

Soon he could feel himself getting dizzy. That meant that he was going in the right direction...

"Stay where you are!"

Antonio stopped running, and looked around him. At his right side, there was a boy. He looked like Lovino, but not quite. He was having a gun in his hand, which was pointed towards Antonio's head. The boy glared at him, until he suddenly noticed the young man in Antonio's arms. He let out a surprised gasp, and shouted something. He ran towards the two, and reached out for Lovino. He spoke something in rapid Italian. It was too fast for Antonio to understand... Of course, he was able to speak Italian. But only if it wasn't that fast...

"Ah... Uh, oh! You speak English..?" the boy said as soon as he realised it.

"Sí, I do."

"And my brother?"

"Your brother? He can speak English too...?"

"No! What did you do with him?"

"Listen, we don't have time for this," Antonio growled. "He's sick."

"Sick?" The little Italian's expression became worried. "Oh no..."

"Yes. We need to go to... your father? Is he around here?"

"Sì, let me take you to him."

Antonio followed Lovino's brother to a small house. He felt worse and worse as he walked closer, and when he was almost at the front door he felt like throwing up. He stumbled through the door, and when he looked up he stood eye to eye with a big man. This man made his blood boil. He wanted to kill him. But he couldn't. For one, he wouldn't have any chance against a well-trained hunter, and two, he was the only one who could save Lovino...

Lovino's brother stepped forward, and spoke in Italian, making wild gestures.

Antonio got harshly pulled inside, and got forced to lie Lovino on the couch.

"Drink this," the man said while he handed him some strange liquid. Antonio was unsure if it was very smart to drink something a vampire hunter gave to him, but... he noticed that he didn't really mind it if something would happen to him. The most important right now was Lovino. He had to be okay... He just had to...

He put the glass to his lips, and drank. As soon as the liquid entered his throat, he felt a lot better.

He just stood there, watching the vampire hunter taking care of his Lovino. While he watched, Lovi's brother stood next to him and talked to him. Antonio learned that his name was Feliciano, he was 15 years old, and he had lived alone with his brother. When he learned that Lovino was kidnapped, their father, 'Roma' as everyone called him, went to Feli's and Lovi's apartment, and told Feliciano the true story about being a vampire hunter.

It was all very interesting, but Antonio only had his mind with Lovino. Still he knew that he was in good hands. How weird that may sound for a vampire to say that about a hunter...

"Vampire," Roma growled, looking up at Antonio who tilted his head.

"¿Sí?"

"He's okay now."

A sigh of relief. He just wanted to thank everyone he saw... But he didn't waste his time on that; instead he went over to his love, and knelt down in front of his face. He looked as if he was sleeping... So peaceful...

Antonio caressed his face. He was so pretty... "Lo siento, Lovi," he whispered softly.

"Let him sleep for a while." Roma gestured for Feliciano to go upstairs. The boy ran over to his older brother, and kissed his cheek before he went upstairs.

Roma glared down at Antonio. "Don't you dare to try to leave this house, or to hurt any of us. You won't escape alive."

Antonio nodded quietly. He had no idea why he would even think about hurting a vampire hunter on his own... Even though the man had hurt his brother...

When the Spaniard was left alone, he crawled on the couch. He carefully lifted Lovino's head, and placed it on his lap. He ran his hand through the soft, dark locks. "I love you, Lovino... it will be okay."

He got his answer in the form of a soft groan. His heart sped up, and his eyes started sparkling in relief and happiness.

"Fuck..." The Italian sat up, and held his head. "Wha... Antonio?"

"Lovi~" The man smiled happily. "You're okay~"

"That's what you say... My head fucking hurts..."

Antonio hugged his Lovino again. He couldn't help it. "Oh, my love..."

"Your love?"

Lovino slowly wrapped his arms around the man, and Antonio couldn't do much else than smile.

"You... You could have died, Lovino..."

"What?! Why...? What... Where the fuck am I!?"

Antonio calmly explained the whole story, never breaking the embrace.

"I love you, Lovi~" he ended.

"Hm..."

Antonio kissed Lovi's head softly.

"You don't have to kiss like that..."

"Huh?"

"I'm not a kid, you know. I can give adult kisses."

Antonio tilted his head, a warm, gentle smile on his face. "You can be so adorable, you know that?"

"I... I'm n-"

As soon as he saw that Lovino was going to protest, he pressed his lips against the young man's ones. It took a moment for the latter to kiss back, but it quickly became more heated. He could hear Lovino moaning softly~ He pressed the young man against the couch, and placed a trail of kisses down his neck. He thought that it was amazing how he could feel Lovino's muscles tensing and relaxing with every little kiss he gave.

"Lo... Lovino..." Antonio growled softly. "We... We have to continue this another time..."

"God damn it. Ass."

"I'm pretty sure you won't like it if your father sees-"

"He's not my father."

"But-"

"He left me and Feliciano alone. That shit doesn't deserve to be called that."

Lovino curled up against Antonio, and leaned against the man's chest. "He left us with all kinds of strange men to care for us. And as soon as I became 16, it had been long enough. Fucking bastard didn't even want to raise his own children."

"Shh..." Antonio pressed a gentle kiss on top of the boy's head. "Te amo, Lovi. I will stay with you."

"Hmm, you better..."

"Of course. Hey, don't you want to go check on your brother?"

"Feli? He doesn't need me waking him up in the middle of the night. I will see him tomorrow. Let's just sleep now. I'm tired as fuck."

The Spaniard looked how his lover crawled closer to him and closed his eyes. "Buenas noches~"

"Hmm... Buona notte... jerk."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight references to nsfw material here, but it's not too bad~

The first thing Antonio felt was a soft hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently. "G'way..." he mumbled, lazily slapping it away and not even bothering to open his eyes. The hand returned, and shook him a bit harder.

"No..." Antonio took the hand in his own, and squeezed it a bit. "Stop... I want to sleep..." He pulled the hand closer, feeling a body falling against him... His Lovino...

"What the hell are you doing with my brother?"

Antonio opened his eyes in confusion, and... the boy against him wasn't Lovino. At all. It was his little brother. The older Italian stood in the middle of the room, his hands in his side. Antonio quickly removed his hands from Feliciano, and turned to his lover. "Lo siento... But it's not my fault! It's just that his skin is as soft as yours..."

Lovino growled. "Shut up, you jerk. At least here I get food..."

Antonio sighed, and then stood up. "We can get food at home... I'm sorry, Lovi. You know that yesterday there were more important things going on..."

"Yeah, yeah..." Lovino shortly ruffled Feli's hair, and the younger Italian happily gave his brother a hug. It was obvious to anyone that they had a good relationship... Antonio suddenly felt a bit cruel about taking the two apart... But then, he became very possessive. Lovino was still his, and his only.

He took Lovino's arm, and pulled him closer. He leaned down, and pressed his lips against the young man's ear. "Let's go home, Lovi. Maybe you can get a surprise."

Lovino's cheeks became red, and he quickly looked into another direction. "U-Um... Feliciano..."

"Yes~?" the smaller boy chirped, a bright smile on his face as he looked at his big brother.

"I... uh, you know..."

"Hm? What is it?"

Antonio decided to cut in. "We're going home."

Feli's big brown eyes widened. "And you are taking fratello with you!?" The expression on his face seemed really desperate... Luckily, Lovino opened his mouth. "I will be back some day, Feliciano. It won't be long. Don't worry, okay?"

The two Italians shared a hug, and Lovi kissed Feli's forehead. "I'll be back soon." Lovino walked back to Antonio. The Spaniard said a quick goodbye to Feli, before he took his lover's hand and dragged him outside. He was eager to just go to his house. He really wanted to be away from the hunter... He was already starting to get a headache. This house was full of stuff to chase vampires away...

As soon as they were a bit further away, Antonio pressed Lovino against a tree and kissed him hard. It took a few moments for the other to react. However, that didn't matter... Lovi's kisses were amazing... though Antonio could notice that he was hesitating. Because of his fangs, of course...

The Spaniard broke the kiss, and took Lovino in his arms. "Lovi~ Te amo~"

The Italian rolled his eyes. "Yeah sure." Then he added, mumbling: "Love you too..."

Antonio smiled, and buried his nose into Lovino's hair. "You make me really happy... Stay with me forever, ¿sí?"

"I... will think about that." That was already good enough...

Lovino pressed a kiss on Antonio's lips for one last time before the two continued to walk home.

When they were finally there, Lovino let Antonio's hand go. He liked the man, he really did, but... he didn't like the way how he seemed to think that they were already together for a long time... But... maybe he would get used to it? But then he saw those empty, hurt eyes in his mind again, and he felt a pang of guilt. He could have saved Antonio's brother. But instead, he killed him...

"Lovi? Why do you look so down...?" He looked up when he suddenly heard the worried voice. He shook his head. "It... It's nothing, Antonio. Let's go inside."

Lovino stepped into the door, which was still wide open. He went inside, and the moment he did, he saw something... horrible...

There were two animals. They looked like stray dogs: they had a thin, black and dark grey fur, but they were about as tall as an elk. Their eyes were a dark red. That wasn't too horrible. But... they were eating from a carcass. A human carcass. Or better: a vampire carcass. Pale, greyish skin got ripped apart, intestines were clearly visible. The two dogs pulled away from each other, holding onto one part of the body with their sharp, white fangs. With a slow pull, they severed the chest from the belly. At this moment, Lovino's stomach was emptied on the floor. He had never seen something as disgusting as this...

The two beasts looked up, and ran outside with a great speed. They were still holding onto their part of the prey as they escaped, leaving a trail of blood and slime behind.

Right at that moment, Lovino could feel a hand on his eyes. His breath was still shaking, and he felt as if he was going to collapse. He could feel a familiar arm around him, and he leaned back against Antonio's chest. The Spaniard gently pulled Lovino with him, and the boy noticed that they were already outside. They didn't stop walking though.

When the hand disappeared, he still saw the house, but only from a distance. Next to him was a river. He was still pressed against Antonio's chest.

"I'm sorry, Lovi..." he mumbled. "I'm sorry that you had to see that... Stay here, okay? Then we won't have to go back ever again. I will just... get our important stuff, and then, we escape. Alright...?"

Lovino nodded slowly, still just leaning against Antonio for comfort. "That... That was..."

"I know, Lovi. You don't have to see something like that ever again. We will go to a place where it's safe." Antonio kissed Lovino's lips softly, and then turned around. "Stay here." In the blink of an eye, he was gone.

Lovino shook his head. He wanted to get that image out of his head as soon as possible... Even thinking about it made him want to throw up.

He removed his shoes and socks, and sat down on the edge of the land. He lowered his feet into the water. He had a lot of things on his mind... The gentle flow of the water cooled him down, and it helped him think about the things that had happened. And more important... his own situation.

He knew very well that he had to choose between either Feliciano or Antonio. And, even though he liked the Spaniard a lot, his heart was still with his little brother. But then again... Feliciano was safe. He had learned how to protect himself. And... he was almost sure that Antonio would break if Lovino left him. Besides, the Italian got protected here. And he'd rather be with someone he loved than with a man he hated because he had abandoned him. On top of that, he trusted Antonio to give him permission to visit Feliciano. And if he didn't... Lovino would find a way.

Suddenly, there were some heavy footsteps. This were definitely not Antonio's... Lovino removed his feet from the water, and looked up. He stayed silent, in case the other was a dangerous person. He already took his shoes in his hand, for if he needed to run away quickly.

The footsteps came closer to him, and then he saw the owner. A man with short, dark brown hair, a small beard, and two curls like Feliciano and Lovino had. Lovino's eyes widened for a moment, but then they narrowed, and he glared. "You..." he growled.

"Lovino, my son..." Roma walked closer, with a big smile on his face. "My son!" He reached his hand out, and was about to touch Lovino, but the latter quickly stepped back.

"Don't fucking touch me!" he hissed. "Go the fuck away!"

Roma's expression dropped. "But... Lovino..."

"DON'T!" He didn't even make an effort to be quiet. He could see how Roma suddenly looked serious. A bit dark, even. Lovino shivered, but he held his glare.

"...Lovino. Listen to me. Even if it's only this once. You have to leave him. The vampire isn't good for you."

"'The vampire' has a name!" Lovino yelled, clenching his hands into fists. "And I'm already old enough to decide what's good for me!"

"No, you aren't. This world is a different one from what you grew up in. And trust me, he is dangerous."

"No! He fucking isn't! I know how he is!" He knew that Antonio could probably kill him with one blow, but he also knew that he wouldn't just do that without a reason.

"Lovino, you don't..." Roma shook his head, he knew that this wasn't going to work. "Let me tell you something. He's going to die. And you have the choice to either kill him yourself in a painless way, or let me kill him."

"Neither," a third voice said before Lovino could realise what was actually said. Antonio stepped out of the shadows, and lied a hand on Lovi's shoulder, glaring darkly at Roma. The next second, they were both standing on a tree branch. Lovino saw that Antonio's eyes were red again. Pure anger was showing on his face. It made him feel uncomfortable, but at the same time also very safe. When Antonio was like this... he wouldn't let anyone touch him.

"Lovi. We are going to a safe place. You just hold this bag, okay?" He quickly pushed a bag with their belongings into Lovi's hands. The Italian quickly put his shoes into the bag. Antonio gestured that he had to climb on his back, and so he did. He wrapped his arms around Antonio, and gripped the bag firmly with both hands.

"Ready?" Antonio asked.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

They took off. Antonio ran with the speed of a running champion, just to get away from this place as fast as possible. They ran, and ran, and ran even further. They only stopped when the distance between the trees was becoming bigger. Antonio stood still, panting, supporting himself on his knees. Lovino slid from his back.

"Lovi~" the older man spoke between his pants. Lovino shook his head. "Catch your breath first, idiot."

Antonio waited for a moment, but then he was too stubborn to listen to his love. "Lovi!" he exclaimed. "Lovi, we are almost at the place. Just a little further, and then we are safe. But before we will be there, I have to tell you something... I will warn you. Only look at the ground. Never ever look up, not even when we are inside. Only when I tell you to. And also, follow with whatever I say. You are my slave. It's the best if you can't speak English. Okay? Only Italian."

Lovino shook his head in disbelief. "I... What the hell are you even saying!?"

"It's for your safety. For our safety. Lovino... Please. It's only for a very short time. Then we will be safe, and we are free to do whatever we want. Alright?" Lovino slowly nodded. "O-Okay... But nothing will happen... right?"

Antonio laughed. "I promise you that nothing will happen. That is, if you keep looking down."

The young man nodded again. "Okay. I will look down... for whatever reason..."

"Okay~" Antonio smiled a cheerful smile. "Come on, give me a kiss~"

"Fine, fine..." Lovino wrapped his arms around Antonio's waist. "I... You know, Antonio..."

"Hm?"

"I... uh... I just like you a lot, okay?"

The Spaniard's smile brightened. "I love you too~!" He leaned in, and pressed several soft, sweet kisses on Lovi's lips, whispering sweet nothings between them. The Italian rolled his eyes. "You are such an overly romantic girl, you know that?"

"Eh?" Antonio tilted his head." I'm not a girl...?"

"Then behave like a man!" With those words, Lovino pulled the other close by his collar, and slammed their lips together. A fiery, passionate kiss followed, along with a few love bites. Most of them ended up on Lovino though... It was scary, he had to admit. But Antonio said that it, again, was for a purpose.

Finally, they decided that it was time to go. Hand in hand, they walked the first part. The amount of trees became lower, and in the distance, they could already see a large, black building. It looked like a castle...

"A-Antonio...?" Lovino stammered. "Are you sure we will be... safe...?"

"Yes. Very sure, Lovi. But now... be very careful. Here is where it starts. From now on, you are my personal slave. And... That's why you need this." He pulled something from their bag, and showed it to Lovino. It were... a bracelet and... a collar? That's something a dog should wear!

Apparently, Antonio saw the doubtful and a bit hurt face of his lover, because he showed him an apologetic smile. "Lo siento, Lovi. It's needed. With this, they will leave you alone."

Lovino shivered a bit, but then he took the things in his hands. He put on the bracelet first, but the collar wasn't that easy... He just felt really uncomfortable, just by seeing that thing. Antonio patted his shoulder. "It's okay, Lovi. It won't hurt or anything. And as soon as this whole thing is over... we will be able to live carefree and happy. I will remove it as soon as possible. Right now, just relax..."

Lovino squeaked a bit when he suddenly felt a cold metal against his throat, and then around his whole neck.

"There, all done. Does it hurt somewhere?"

Lovino shook his head – even though that didn't go all that easy with the collar...

"Okay. That's good." Antonio kissed Lovino one last time. "Now... let's go. No word in English. Only Italian."

"Yeah, yeah..." Lovino sighed, rolling his eyes.

"No, Lovi..."

"Sì! Vaffanculo!"

Antonio acted as if he was shocked. "No need for such language, Lovi!"

Lovino grinned. "Your own fault, jerk." He got a playful pout in return. "Lovi..." But then Antonio shook his head. "Seriously, let's go now."

"Hm, alright." Lovino kept his gaze fixed to the ground, just like Antonio had said. If it meant that both of them would be safe, then it was fine. He noticed how it was getting darker and darker outside. There was only a little moonlight that wasn't held back by the forest behind them. Antonio held on to his shoulder. Lovino really felt like a prisoner at the moment. He wondered why. What was so dangerous that they had to do all of this...? It made Lovino feel really, really unsafe. He just hoped that Antonio kept his promise and would protect him...

He noticed that there was another person in the distance. Two of them, actually. They seemed to guard a big gate. Antonio walked closer to them, and they had a conversation in Spanish. Did he know that Lovino could actually understand everything...? His study Spanish was useful at moments like this...

"Prince Fernández," one of the men said. Huh...? Lovino didn't have the time to be confused though. He had to listen!

"...Long time no see..." the other man mumbled, as if he was afraid of saying it.

"Let me pass," Antonio snarled at a dark tone Lovino had never heard. Not even when he was standing in fromt of Roma...

"What about that boy?" the first guard asked.

"He's my personal slave."

"He is...? Let me speak with him for a moment."

"No!" Antonio harshly pulled Lovino away from the others. "There is no way you would be able to talk with him. He can't even speak English, let alone Spanish!"

"Then let me inspect him." Without hesitating, the guard pulled Lovino closer. "Hrm..." He stared at the collar, while the boy himself almost couldn't stay on his legs. The man let his finger go over one of the little bites Antonio made in Lovi's neck. They hadn't been enough to draw much blood, but that wasn't visible. "He's yours, I see..."

"Yes. He is. And now let me pass."

"And what if I say that he can't!?" the other guard yelled while pointing at Lovino.

"Then... Both of you will die."

Lovino's body started to shake when he heard those words... Antonio was too intimidating...

"You- You can't! We... We are armed!"

There was a splash, and the two bodies fell to the ground.

"Oh, yes I can," Antonio muttered, before he gently pushed Lovino forward. "Look down," he whispered in Italian. Lovino did as told. They walked through a gate. The path was going up here, and it became a bit harder to walk. Nevertheless, they kept walking in the same pace.

After a while there was a strange sound. People... moaning? Groaning? They were in pain... He wanted to look up. He really wanted to. But he couldn't. He couldn't look at the things that were apparently happening right next to him and above him...

Antonio stopped walking. "Lo siento..." he mumbled. That was the thing that was needed to let Lovino's curiosity win yet again. But he immediately wished that it hadn't...

Antonio glared at him. Lovino quickly shook his head, trying to get that image out of his mind. There were... humans. Some were tied to poles. Some were penetrated by poles. Others were even pinned to the ground... All of them were still living, if only barely. Lovino wanted to kill them. He really wanted to. Nobody deserved to suffer like this...

"Lo siento, Lovi..." Antonio mumbled. They walked further, past more humans. Lovino wondered what the use – No, he didn't even want to think of that...

There were more vampires, all of them in some kind of armor. They all yelled a 'Prince Antonio!' before they bowed. Lovino could see though how most of them glared at him, as if he was some disease. Which he probably was according to them, seeing as how the other humans here were treated...

They walked past the soldiers, until he finally stood in front of a huge, black door. The two guards at the door stepped aside as soon as they recognised Antonio. The door opened, and they stepped inside. The hall was huge...

There was another person, a human instead. He also had a collar around his neck, just like Lovino. The human bowed, and led them through the hallway. He knocked on a door, and a heavy voice answered. "Who's there?"

The answer came from Antonio. "It... It's me."

"Antonio? My son?"

"Yes, father."

They were ordered to come inside. The servant opened the door, and then disappeared. Lovino saw a big man sitting in a huge chair. The man had a thick beard, and the same hairstyle as Antonio. He looked strong, and Lovino really didn't want to be close to him.

"Who is this little shit you brought with you?"

Lovino saw Antonio's eye twitch at those words. "He's mine. I made him my own."

"I want to see if he's worthy of being yours," the old man spoke.

""He is, father. He is all mine. I know him long enough already." Antonio pulled the Italian closer to him, and lied one arm around his shoulders.

"Antonio. Did you go so far down as to make a simple human... your lover?"

Antonio snarled, "He's not just a simple human. He is all mine."

"His face looks familiar... What's his name?"

"Romano."

"Last name?"

"I don't know. Does it matter?"

"Hm..." The man stood up, and stepped in front of Lovino. "He looks good, indeed... Take him with you. Take a bath, Antonio. And then come back to the dining room."

The younger Spaniard nodded. "As you wish, father." He turned around, and headed out of the room, taking Lovino with him.

The servant still stood close to the door. Antonio told him that he wanted a bath, and the human walked away in a quick pace. He took Lovino's hand in his own, and together they went upstairs. He then pushed a door open.

The room they entered was a bedroom, where all the furniture was red. A deep, passionate red.

"Listen, Lovino," Antonio said as he closed the door. "Let me tell you what just happened..."

The Italian sat down on the bed with his arms crossed. He had a scowl on his face. "You lied to me, Antonio."

"I... I did?" The Spaniard sat down next to him. Lovino moved away. "Yes. You never told me about all this shit. You were always more human than vampire to me. And now I suddenly hear that you are a fucking prince! And I'm not even Lovino for everyone around here! No, instead my name is like that fucking bastard's. I bet you are also going to call me Roma!"

Antonio shook his head. "You could... understand? You got it all wrong..."

"You only told me that you love me so that you will be more appreciated by your stupid father!"

"No! Oh no, sweetheart. Don't believe any of that." Antonio held his head low, looking at Lovino with puppy eyes again.

"Don't fucking call me that," Lovino growled.

"I'm sorry, Lovi." The vampire knelt down in front of the young man. "Tell me what to do to make you stop thinking things like that."

"Uh..." A small smirk appeared on Lovi's face. "Anything?"

"Anything for you, Lovi."

"How about... You remove your clothes and dance naked through the castle!"

The Spaniard gasped, his eyes widened. "What!? No! I can't do that!"

"You said anything." The smirk on Lovino's face became wider.

"Yes, I know, but..."

"Okay. How about, you remove your clothes and dance naked through this room!"

Now it was Antonio's turn to smirk. "I can do that."

"Wa-" Lovino immedieately became flustered. His face was an expression of pure shock and embarrassment. "W...Wa..."

"Oh yes, for you I will do that~" The older man started to remove his shirt.

"Wa-Wait! You aren't kidding!"

"No, I'm serious." His pants followed. Lovino stared at the man in front of him with wide eyes. Antonio's body... Of cousre he had seen it earlier, but now he stood in front of him... He couldn't deny that he was very, very sexy. He felt the warmth going to his thighs, and he shifted akwardly. "A...Eh...Antonio..."

"Hm?" The Spaniard looked up, as smile still on his face. "What is it, Lovi?"

"Is-Is the fucking bath ready?" Lovino just wanted to run away and hide somewhere...

"Hm... I don't know. Usually the sla- servants call me when it's ready..."

"Will they be able to see us?" the Italian mumbled then, looking down with a red face.

"Oh no, Lovi. Don't worry." Antonio sat back next to his lover, and pulled him in a hug. "They knock on the door, and when I give an answer, they disappear."

"A-Alright..."

He softly kissed Lovi's forehead. They waited for a bit, until there was a quiet knock on the door. "B-Bath is ready..."

"Alright. We will be there soon."

The servant walked away. Antonio smiled at Lovino. "Let's go~?"

"Hm... Okay..." They stood up, and went through a door. The warmth of the bathroom greeted them both. As soon as the door closed behind them, Antonio immediately stripped. Lovino couldn't move, even when the other went into the bath.

"Come on, Lovi! It's warm!" the enthusiastic man exclaimed as he turned around. Lovino did the same, not wanting to stare at... well, that place.

"...Lovi?" The voice was soft and worried.

"No... it... it's fine. Just... I will be there in... a little bit."

"Alright." He could hear how the man sat down into the water, and then chuckled. "Lovi...? Are you shy?"

The Italian quickly shook his head.

"That's good. Hey, you have no problem with me seeing your body, right? You can also bathe with your underpants still on."

But that didn't sound appealing at all... "No! That- That's uncomfortable!"

Seeing that he had no other choice, Lovino stripped from his pants and shirt. But then, he stopped again.

"Hey... I won't look, if you don't want me to," Antonio said in a soft voice. "O-Okay." Lovino looked over his shoulder, and when he was sure that Antonio wasn't looking, he removed his boxers. He went towards the bath, and put his toe into the water, trying to check the temperature.

"It's not too hot, Lovi," Antonio's sudden voice said. The Italian squeaked. "You- you said that you weren't going to look!"

"But I really wanted to see you~!"

Lovino let himself sink into the water, his blush even becoming darker. "P-Pervert..."

Antonio pulled Lovino close to him yet again. "I love you, Lovi~!"

"Y-Yeah... Sure..." The young man buried his face into the tan chest in front of him. "L-Love you too... jerk..."

"Hehe~" The Spaniard chuckled, holding his love close to his body. "Hey, Lovi, why don't you want me to see it?"

"It-It's awkward!" the younger boy squeaked, his cheeks tinted crimson.

"It's not small, and... Lovi?" The Italian was already on his way out of the bath. "No! Don't go! I still didn't wash you... Lovi!"

Lovino just ignored it, and went straight towards the bedroom. Without even caring about the fact that he still hadn't dried himself, he let himself fall down on the bed. He immediately heard the door open again. "Loviiii! What is-"

Lovino wondered why Antonio suddenly stopped talking, so he looked back. The green eyes of the man darkened, and he licked his lips. "Lovi..." he whispered in a dark tone. He crawled on top of the boy. "Lovi... Lovi, be mine tonight..." He pressed his hips down on Lovino's.

"Are you ready?"

The Italian looked up at him.

"...Oh hell yeah."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another slight nsfw warning and -- Well -- Look at the tags of the story. 
> 
> Last chapter, I really hope you enjoyed the story!!   
> If you wish you could listen to Todokanai Ai To Shitteita No Ni Osae Kirezu Ni Aishitsuzuketa, by Gackt - it was the song that inspired the whole story, after all.   
> At the end you could listen to Take Us Back by Alela Diane, or by Everything's Alright by Laura Shigihara~

The two were lying next to each other, cuddled close together. "Did you enjoy it, Lovi?" Antonio asked, placing several kisses on the younger one's face.

"Hm... I... Hell yeah, I did." Lovino snuggled into Antonio's neck. It was a comfortable place to rest...

"I loved it," the Spaniard mumbled. "But... I think we should go downstairs for dinner. They are waiting for us, Romano~"

Lovino gritted his teeth. "Fuck off, Fernández." If Antonio couldn't say his name, then he wasn't going to do it either.

"No! Lovi..." Antonio whined, tightening his grip.

"That's better." The Italian rolled away from his lover, and stood up. "Um... My clothes..."

"Oh, yeah." Antonio got up, and opened a closet. "This were my clothes from the time right before I left here, when I was 20... They should fit you."

Lovino caught the clothes the man threw towards him. "Wait..." he mumbled, while he looked at the dark red shirt and black pants. "For how long have you been away!?"

"Five years," the older man simply stated.

"So you're 25 now!?" Lovino yelled, with a shocked expression.

"Um... Yes? I don't see the problem..."

"I'm only 19!" The Italian put his hands in his sides, as he stared at the other. Antonio shook his head, a soft smile on his face. "So? If we are both fine with it, I don't see the problem. We are both adults anyway."

"Hm..." Lovi grinned a bit. "You are damn old. Are you sure you don't have a younger brother I can date?"

He fell silent when he saw the expression on Antonio's face. "Oh shit... No... Antonio, no... I... shouldn't have said that, I'm so- so stupid..." He wrapped his arms around the man, trying to cheer him up a little bit and to apologise.

"Heh... No, it's okay, Lovi. It was a... good joke... Eheh..." His voice didn't have any emotion in it...

"No, Antonio..." Lovino mumbled, tightening the hug.

"It's okay!" He flinched a bit at the sudden yell, but then he softly kissed the man's shoulder. "Come on. Let's go wear some clothes. We can't run around naked all day..."

When the man agreed, he put his clothes on. To his surprise, Antonio's clothes fit perfectly. He looked next to him, and a soft smile appeared on his face. "Hey... idiot."

"Hm?" Antonio asked, tilting his head while he looked up.

"You are really... an idiot. Don't you even have any idea how your clothes work?" He shook his head, and went in front of the man. He opened the buttons of the blouse, which were all just one hole too low. "Such a little kid." He put the buttons in the right place.

"And... What if I just did this so you would dress me up?" There was a teasing grin on the Spaniard's face.

"Fuck you," Lovino growled.

"With pleasure."

"S-Shut it!" Lovino looked away, while he took his lover's hand. "Let... Let's go down already..."

Together, they went to the dining room. Antonio's father was already sitting there, at the head of the table, together with some other people. Antonio sat down at the only empty chair: the other end of the table. He took Lovino in his lap, before anyone could protest. "Mine," he mumbled, while he buried his nose into Lovino's hair.

The servants appeared, some with bottles, and others with plates. On the plates were some chicken-like meat and vegetables. It looked like the thing that Antonio had made on their first day together, but more... royal.

The contents of the bottles were emptied in the wine glasses on the table. Lovino noticed how they didn't fill Antonio's... He also wondered what it was. At first sight it looked a bit like wine, but... thicker. And more red. Of course. It were vampires after all...

"Where does all this blood come from?" Lovino whispered in Italian.

"From... um... outside," was Antonio's answer, in the same language.

Outside... The humans on the poles...? He was going to throw up...

Antonio slowly covered the boy's eyes. "I'm sorry... Lo-Romano."

"No, it's... not your fault..." Or so he hoped. He wouldn't forgive Antonio if that was the case...

The king told everyone to have a nice meal, and everyone started to eat. Except for Lovino. It seems like his theory earlier about Antonio's meal and the slaves wasn't completely his imagination...

"Romano..." Antonio said softly. "Eat something. It's just normal bird meat. Nothing special about it."

Lovino shook his head. "No..."

"Yes, Lo-Romano. Or else I will feed you myself."

Lovino crossed his arms, and looked away, holding his lips as if they were glued to each other. From the corner of his eye, he saw that his lover took his fork, and held it in front of Lovino's mouth. "Say aaah~!"

Lovino shook his head.

"Yes, Romano! Say it!"

"N-No!"

Antonio took this chance to push the fork into Lovi's mouth. He had no other choice than to chew, and swallow. It was just bird meat indeed, but he still refused to eat any more.

"Romanoooo~" Antonio sang. "Mano, open your mouth~" No reaction. "Mano~!" Again, nothing. "Rrrrromano." Maybe if it would have been his real name...

Suddenly he felt something in his side, and he twitched. He growled softly at Antonio as a warning. But there the feeling was again. Antonio was poking his side. Then he started to move his fingers, tickling the boy. "No. No! Stop it, you fucking jerk!"

He continued, despite the other's protests. Lovino's leg accidentally kicked against the table. Neither of them cared. "Lemme go! Antoni-no! N-No!" The Italian squirmed, trying to escape the older man's fingers, while he couldn't stop laughing.

"Ahum."

They both froze, and stared at Antonio's father with wide eyes. The situation was almost funny, if it wasn't for his heart beating in his throat. The whole table was silent: everyone was looking at them. Shit... This was so embarrassing...

"If you guys are only going to do that, you might as well go to your room. Don't be such a bother," the king spoke, in perfect Italian. Oops...

"Lo siento," Antonio replied. Then he added, in Spanish: "We will act normal now, father..." And indeed, throughout the whole dinner they were silent. Antonio didn't stop feeding Lovino though.

As soon as they were done eating, the Spaniard stood up. He wished everyone a good night, and then took Lovino to his room. Antonio stripped to his boxers, like usual, but Lovino removed all his clothes. He crawled into the bed, and looked at his lover. "Come on..." he whispered.

Antonio just stared at the Italian for a while, before he went to lie next to him. "You are making it hard for me to resist you..." He wrapped his arms around the smaller boy, but the latter pushed him away, and climbed on top of him. "Who told you that you have to?"

* * *

The faint sunlight that shone through the curtains ended up right on Lovi's face. He groaned, and turned around, pressing his face against the warm body next to him. He still wanted to sleep...

"Lo...vi..." a lazy voice mumbled. Lovino didn't answer. Not even when he felt those strong arms lifting him up. Not even when he felt those soft lips on his face, repeatedly kissing him. "Lovi~ Wake up~"

Only now he lazily opened his eyes. "What do you want...?" He blinked a bit, and tried to look at Antonio, with his eyes still half-lidded.

"Wake up~!" The happy – though still sleepy – face of the Spaniard greeted him.

"God damn it..." Lovino slowly sat up, and rubbed his eyes. "Why...?"

"Because I still need to be in time for breakfast. I'm already too late, actually. It's after lunch time." Antonio kissed the boy's face again.

"You, yeah. Doesn't mean that I have to go there too." Lovino fell back, though he was stopped by the other's arms. "Yes, it does~" Without waiting any longer, Antonio pulled his lover out of the bed. The Italian let out a little scream as he got thrown against the man's chest.

"You have to go with me, Lovi." Another set of kisses.

"Why!?"

"Because I say so. Now come on and go wear some clothes. I don't want everyone to look at your perfect body."

Lovino turned a bit red. "That's... something I should say..." All the same, he dressed himself, and waited for Antonio to get ready. They went downstairs, and into a room where, as always, Antonio's father was waiting. They just ate in silence, and parted ways quickly.

"Hey Mano..." Antonio said when they closed the door behind them. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't care... Whatever you want." Lovino was fine with everything, as long as he wasn't alone...

Antonio put a finger against his chin, and tilted his head a bit. "Hm... We can... go outside? We have a nice garden there. And we will be able to walk freely, without anyone to bother us." The man took Lovino's hand, and led him outside.

The light was very bright, and Lovino had to blink a few times to get used to it. When he did, he saw a big field, with a few trees scattered over it. All in all, it was a nice place.

The Italian squeezed Antonio's hand a bit, before he started to explore the place. The Spaniard followed him, all the time smiling brightly.

After having walked around for a bit, they settled under a big tree. The two lovers sat down on the soft grass, their backs leaning against the tree. "What do you think of it, Romano?" Antonio asked.

Lovino sighed a bit, before he let his head rest on his love's shoulder. He was never going to get used to his new name... "It's... nice," he decided after a while.

"That's great, Lovi~! I- I mean... Mano~!"

"Yeah, yeah..." Lovino rolled his eyes. A peaceful silence filled the air. The young man looked up at the sky, where light grey clouds chased the blue away. Right at that moment, a sudden homesickness started to flow inside him. He missed how it once used to be, the time when he only had to worry about taking care of his little brother, and coming at work on time. But then he looked up, and saw Antonio's beautiful face, and content expression, and his oh so kissable lips... and then, somehow, he was glad that he was here in this place. Together with his Antonio...

The Spaniard noticed him staring, and looked down. "Hm? What are you thinking about?"

Lovino looked at that warm smile, those gentle eyes, and somehow, he felt very guilty about the words he was going to say next.

"Is it possible to take Feli here too?"

Antonio kissed Lovi's lips for a second. "Do you miss him? I can understand..." He wrapped his arms around the Italian, and pulled him close. "But... We have a problem. You know why we went here in the first place." He quickly looked around him, as if he wanted to check if they were really alone. Which was the case, since he continued speaking. "We went here to escape from your fa- the hunter. And... they aren't allowed to know that you are his son." His voice was now only a soft whisper. "That's why I had to change your name. You can never tell anyone who you really are. If they find out... They will kill you. And they will torture you even more than those people you saw... And then, after I have to see all of that, they throw me out of the castle and I won't be recognised as a vampire anymore. And this will most likely end in me dying because of pure sorrow and the fact that the others are allowed to hunt me down."

Lovino didn't know what to say for a moment. "O-Oh..."

"Yeah. And we are not going to leave this place. Because then, the hunter will find us and kill me." He then became silent for a moment. "You are allowed to... leave this place though..."

Lovino quickly shook his head. "Oh hell no. I'm NOT going to leave you behind, you jerk! How can you even think that!?"

Antonio's expression changed into his usual happy smile. "I'm so happy I have you, Lovi~ I would die without you, do you know that?"

That was exactly why Lovino kissed Antonio for the first time... He felt like if he didn't, the man would break.

"I love you so much, te quiero, te amo~" Antonio whispered. The happiness was even audible in his voice. Lovino let himself be kissed several times. "You are... such an idiot..." he groaned, before he kissed back.

They finally removed their lips from each other's, still holding each other in an embrace. Lovino sighed a bit, while he looked into Antonio's eyes. He looked really happy... and somehow, that made him proud. Proud to be able to make his Antonio feel like that... He caressed his lover's face, and pressed a little kiss on his nose.

Antonio looked at him with a shocked expression, but then he started to laugh. Lovino just glared at him, his arms crossed. "What the hell are you laughing about now?"

It took a while for the Spaniard to calm down. "Oh, you are so adorable, Lovi~"

"Hrr... Shut up..." the other growled, with a dark red face.

They continued to cuddle for a while, just telling each other sweet things and sharing little kisses. Lovino looked up at the sky yet again. He hand't seen birds around here before, but now he saw one floating high in the air... The bird dived down, and landed just a few meters next to them. It was a beautiful bird, he had to admit. A pure white, with big round eyes. It looked like it was staring straight at Lovino...

The Italian crawled a little bit closer to his lover. "Do you see that?"

Antonio nodded. "Hm... It's strange..."

They didn't bother about it further, since they both agreed that having a lover was far more interesting than just a random bird... Only after another, slightly long while, Lovino noticed something. There was something lying on the ground near the bird. He stood up, and walked closer to it. The animal stared at him for a short moment, before it flew away.

Lovino took the thing on the ground. A letter... He opened it, just because he was curious, but he gasped at the words that were written on the old paper.

_'I know where you are. Get out of there. Kill him before dark, or I will do it.'_

He dropped the paper to the ground, and gripped his head instead.

"Lovi?" Antonio said in a worried voice while he stood up. The Italian just stood there, frozen, with wide eyes. Even when the Spaniard wrapped those strong, comforting arms around him, he didn't do anything.

"Lovi... What's wrong? What was in that thing?"

Lovino removed his hands from his hair, and wrapped them around Antonio's shoulders. He repeatedly shook his head, and just clung to the other, burying his face into his neck.

"Shh, Lovi," Antonio mumbled, stroking the boy's hair. "It's okay. I'm here with you." He kissed the Italian's forehead, before he took the letter from the ground. He read it, and immediately, his face fell. "Lovi... Lovino... Don't worry, my love, mi corazón, it's okay, está bien... We are safe in here. They won't be able to hurt us, ¿sí?"

"Yes! They will! They will find us!"

"No, shh... Even though he knows where we are, he won't be able to even set a foot in our castle. One hunter might be able to take down one, two, or maybe three vampires, but we have a whole army, you know."

Lovino turned away from Antonio, just crying silently.

"Hey... Shh... It will be okay."

"No! Why can't I just... get you out of me!?"

Antonio stepped back, eyes wide. "Out of... Lovi, what are you saying!?"

The Italian shook his head. "I'm saying that I wish I didn't love you as much as I do! Then everything would have been so much easier..."

Antonio was hurt. A lot. But he wouldn't show it, since he knew where Lovino was coming from... "Lovi. Lovino. Can I please get a hug?" When he saw the Italian only crying, he tried it again. "A kiss, maybe?"

"F-Fine..." Lovino turned back to him, and pressed their lips together. Antonio wrapped his arms around the boy, and eagerly kissed him back.

"I love you... Antonio..."

"I love you too, Lov-" He stopped talking when he heard someone coming closer to him. "Romano~" he added instead.

"Yeah, yeah, bastard..."

The other person walked closer to him, but became hesitant when he saw the young man crying in his prince's arms. "I... I... I'm sorry to interrupt you..."

Lovino squeaked softly when he saw Antonio's glare becoming hard and cold.

"Why are you here?" the older man growled.

"I... I got a message, that you have to speak with the king..." Lovino groaned softly, while Antonio just nodded. "Romano and I are going to father soon."

The human boy nodded, and turned around to walk away. Antonio smiled a bit, and kissed Lovino's forehead. "It's okay now, ¿sí?"

The Italian nodded slowly. "Y-Yeah..."

"Alright, let's go now."

The two walked over to the castle, and went back inside. "Hmm, Romano~" Antonio hummed, his arm around Lovino's shoulders. "What?" the young man snarled. "I love you~!"

The Italian rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah..."

"That's not the way to respond, Romano~" Antonio sang, now standing still and wrapping both his arms around the smaller form next to him.

"Fuck you, you know?"

"Hey! That's rude~" The Spaniard chuckled, while he poked the other's nose. "Even though I wouldn't mind it."

"Hrr..." Lovino sighed, but kissed him again.

"Let's go now, alright?" Antonio asked with a friendly smile. He put his hand behind the young man's shoulder, and pushed him forward again. They reached the king's room quickly, and Antonio opened the heavy door. Lovino looked into the small room, to be greeted by the dark green eyes of the king.

"Antonio. Get him out of the room. I want this conversation to be between the two of us," the heavy voice rumbled, his piercing gaze never leaving Lovino. Antonio looked at the boy next to him, a soft expression on his face. "Mano? Can you wait outside? I won't be long, I promise~"

Lovino growled, and looked at his feet. "Fine..." He allowed Antonio to kiss his cheek, before he went out of the door. "I'll be in our bedroom," he mumbled, before he closed it behind him.

Antonio sighed, as he leaned back against the desk behind him. He stared at his father's face. "What did you want to talk about, father?"

He noticed that his father's face still hadn't changed a bit in all those years. That was another thing that made him glad to be a vampire... Their looks didn't change much. Of course he would age, but it wasn't that visible. In his whole life he wouldn't be looking much older... only manlier. Like his father. But he was pretty sure that if his father would shave, they would almost look the same. That said... what if Antonio would grow a beard instead? He could imagine it already... Would Lovi like it?

He couldn't help but to chuckle at that thought. "What are you laughing about, Antonio?" The prince shook his head. "Nothing, father. Anyways..."

The strong man gestured towards a chair, "Sit down, my boy."

Antonio did as told, and he sat down on the comfy chair. "You have always been an airhead," the king growled, even though it was meant as a joke rather than an insult.

"I know, father... Just like mother, right?" The man nodded, and looked straight at his son, folding his hands on his lap. "Hrm... But, what I wanted to talk about, my son... Why did you return? You told me that you left because you didn't want to leave that shit alone."

Antonio gritted his teeth, he was starting to become angry... "He is still your son, father," he growled, clenching his fists. For now he would try to control himself, there was no need to start a fight now...

"He's not my son, Antonio. You are. He's not. He is worthless. Someone who is too weak to-"

"WEAK!?" Antonio couldn't have it anymore, so he stood up and slammed his fists on the table. "My brother is NOT WEAK! He stood against you, he was against the way you were treating people. He disagreed with you, and for that you call him weak?" His eyes snapped open as soon as he realised what he was doing, and he fell back in his seat. He buried his face in his hands. "He... He is dead, father. He was killed... by a hunter."

He could hear the king growl a little bit, and Antonio knew he was thinking about his mother, who had left her life the same way. He finally decided to look up, and he stared into red eyes instead of the usual dark green ones. He felt a shudder go down his spine, but he tried to stay strong...

"Who was it?" the king growled. Antonio shifted a bit. If he said it, Roma would get killed. That wasn't too much of a problem, but... they wouldn't let Feliciano live either. And he was pretty sure that Lovino would leave him if that happened.. No, he couldn't let that be...

He shook his head, sighing softly. "I don't know. He came back to our house, but before he could say anything, he collapsed. The next thing I knew was that he was attacking me... And... then, he died." He wouldn't tell his father about any of his pathetic attempts to keep his brother alive...

The king growled, and stood up, his gaze still not leaving Antonio. "And what about that little kid you brought with you? What about him?"

Antonio stood also, not wanting someone as impressive as the king to tower above him... "He's mine, just as I told you. I just took him in my house. And then we fell in love."

Reality was so much more complicated than that... Apparently the king noticed it too, because he cleared his throat, and added: "You're hiding something from me, my boy. I just know it."

Antonio quickly shook his head – maybe too quickly, because his father rose a brow. "He might be all sweet when he's around you, but I don't trust that kid."

Antonio frowned, but he didn't say anything. He knew that he would go too far if he had to defend Lovino... He was everything Antonio had left. He couldn't lose him. Not now. Not ever.

"I think," the king continued, "that he's not good enough for you. You shouldn't forget that you are royal. And a prince deserves someone who is perfect for him."

"But he IS perfect!" Antonio suddenly realised something... Something that made him slam his fists on the table again. "You are only saying that because Lovino is just a human!"

His eyes widened again... Fuck! He had just told his father Lovi's real name... "N-No," he muttered, falling back in his chair, burying his hands in his hair. He could feel the footsteps closing in on him, and then a strong hand under his chin, forcing him to look up at the king.

"Lovino, huh? I knew that you were lying... His face was too familiar."

Antonio wanted to move, he wanted to run to Lovino and tell him that everything was okay and that they would escape, but he couldn't. He couldn't move. He stayed frozen as he was forced to listen to his father.

"He's Lovino Vargas, isn't he? The little boy that suddenly disappeared after he became 4... Antonio, I really thought you would be smarter. You took a hunter with you into the castle."

"He's not a hunter!" the younger vampire finally hissed back when he got the courage. "He is just a normal human! He never learned the way of the hunters!"

His father looked down at him with angry eyes. "That doesn't matter. The hunter will come looking for him soon enough. And we don't want to lose any more of our people, after you recklessly killed two of our guards..."

Antonio swallowed. He had been so stupid... His obsession over Lovino had made him do such stupid things...

"I love you, my son. More than anything, which is why I will allow you to stay at the castle. But your little... boyfriend... has to leave. I won't kill him, but I won't allow him to be near us ever again."

Antonio gasped. "No! You can't!" He got pulled up, despite his protests, and got dragged outside. The king's fingers were digging into his shoulder, and he knew that he could break his bones if he tightened his grip enough...

"Go get that boy," the older man commanded to a few vampire guards. The men nodded, and they ran away.

Antonio couldn't do anything... he knew he had to, but... he was simply powerless... It was as if all of his strength had disappeared. He couldn't fight back. He could only watch how the only hope in his life was going to be thrown away to die. He had never felt this hopeless in his whole life. Not even when his brother returned from the kidnapping. Not even when he eventually lost the last bit of his humanity...

"Let me fucking go, you fucking fuckers! What the fuck do you think you are fucking doing!?" he could already hear Lovino yell, first in Italian, and then in Spanish. "Let me go!"

And a few seconds after, the guards walked around the corner, both holding onto one arm of the smaller Italian.

"Antonio!" Lovino yelled as soon as he saw him. He looked angrier than Antonio had ever seen him... "What the hell is the meaning of this!? Let me go!" The furious boy kicked around, but there was no way that the guards were letting him go. Antonio stood helpless. But maybe... there was one thing left to do!

"I'm going with him," he decided. He could hear the king huff, but he didn't care.

"Antonio." His voice was even darker than before. "You do know that you can't come back anymore then, don't you?"

Antonio nodded, growling. "I know. Lovi is still mine. And I won't let him go. I will stay with him until the end, no matter what you guys think!" He wanted to go to Lovino, but he couldn't. The king's grip was too tight. He could only stare, while they both got dragged outside by their captors. When Lovino saw that he had no chance to escape, he too kept his mouth shut.

They went down the dark path, past the humans on the poles. It was really a horrifying sight, Antonio couldn't do much else than to admit that... It had been one of the main reasons why his brother left the castle in the first place... As always, he shot the humans an apologetic look. He couldn't do much to help them.

The sounds of the group's footsteps on the dirt was clearly audible. It made him uncomfortable, somehow... For some strange reason, the tears were flowing down his face. But... He didn't even cry that often. Only when something was realy bad, which this wasn't... Right? He would just go live somewhere else with Lovino, right? But still, something told him that something terrible was about to happen...

They reached the gates, and the king turned Antonio around. "I'm sorry, my son," he mumbled. The prince nodded. "It... It's... I'm not angry at you, father. I'm just glad that you don't kill Lovino, and that you are allowing us to stay together..."

Antonio sighed, and reached his hand out for his lover. The boy didn't move though, so he took his hand in his own.

The heavy doors closed, and they were all alone. It was dark around them. Antonio could only see a bit, and he guessed that Lovino couldn't see a thing... He pulled the smaller man close to him, holding him tight, only to discover that he was shivering like crazy... It wasn't very surprising though. He knew that Lovino was scared of the dark. He also got attacked by guards a few moments before, without having done anything wrong or even knowing what was happening in the first place...

"Shh... I'm here," Antonio whispered in Lovino's hair. "I'm sorry, Lovi..." He realised that he had spoken in English again... It was just a habit, he guessed. A bad habit, according to Lovino's next words.

"Italian or Spanish," the Italian mumbled, making a small smile appear on Antonio's face. "Sí, of course." He softly rubbed his lover's back, before planting kisses on his face. "So..." he continued, in his own language. "Our protection disappeared," he mumbled softly. "But you don't have to worry. I will stay with you. Protect you. With my life. Okay? You don't have to worry..." He stood completely still, just holding Lovino's body close to his own. Soft drops of rain were falling around them.

Antonio finally looked up, feeling his muscles getting frozen. They couldn't stay here the whole night... "Let's go," he whispered, softly kissing Lovino's lips. "We will find a place where we can stay safe. We will. Trust me. But for that, we need to get away from this place."

The younger man nodded, before he kissed Antonio back. "Yeah..."

The Spaniard took his lover's hand, and together they walked through the forest. It was important that they didn't draw too much attention, so they couldn't run...

"It's okay, Lovi," Antonio whispered as they entered an even darker part of the forest. He could clearly feel that the Italian was scared to death... "If you stay with me, everything will be alright, Lovino," he said again, trying to comfort him a bit more.

Suddenly, the young man stopped in his tracks, and stood still, as if frozen. Antonio turned around, trying to look at Lovino's face, but it was too dark. Even the stars weren't visible, hiding behind thick black clouds...

"Lovi? What's wrong?" the older man asked. "You have to come with me, Lovino. We will get out of this forest soon. Then it will be much lighter."

"No, I... can't." The Italian's squeaking voice sounded as if he was pushing the words out with a lot of effort.

"What? What are you saying? Why not? Come here, I won't leave you." He still tried to smile, despite of the obvious sense of discomfort that was in the air. Lovino stayed where he was, not moving an inch.

Antonio could hear that his breath was getting heavier with every second. "Hey. Tell me. It's okay." He stepped closer, trying to make as less sound as possible. "Lovi... You aren't going to change into a werewolf now, are you?" he chuckled, trying to make the mood a bit lighter. There was no response. "Please...?" He reached out, almost touching the boy's skin. But right when he was only a little bit away, something stopped him. Something in the air...

In the blink of an eye, Lovino was gone. Antonio quickly turned around, to hear him running away from him. He quickly followed the boy. As he ran, a strange scent in the air became more obvcious. He realised that was the thing that made him stop touching Lovino... Fuck, he almost couldn't hear the boy anymore... He sped up, but somehow his legs didn't want to cooperate. What the hell was this!?

He eventually lost Lovino... He kept running into the same direction, hoping that he would find him again. And find him, he did.

He came to a stop when he saw a lighter part of the forest, where the moon wasn't being blocked by the trees and clouds. At this moment, Antonio was trembling hard. He almost couldn't stay on his feet. And when he looked at Lovino, he saw exactly why.

The Italian was standing in front of him, his face looking pale... No, white... His arms were trembling. He was holding... a sword. A shining sword, which was giving off the scent. Antonio could only stand there while his love dashed forward, holding the hunting weapon with both hands. He stopped just out of Antonio's reach. The Spaniard could only watch, while Lovino screamed the next thing.

"I love you, Antonio! I... I will be completely honest right now... I love you a lot... I didn't want to lose you... B-But... I just never want to leave you. And that's why I'm doing this..."

There was the sound of flesh being squished apart. It sounded disgusting. It was so strange... Antonio didn't feel anything. Not even when the blood dripped on the ground, creating a puddle. Not even when he fell to the ground, his clothes drenched with the red liquid. It wasn't a vampire body that fell to the ground though. It was Lovino.

The Italian was gasping for air, as he stayed motionless on the floor. "Lo...vi...?" Antonio whispered, as he stared at the body. He looked so small... So... defenseless... in need of protection...

He stumbled towards Lovino. "Lovi...?" Was this really true...?

A small whimper made him stop dead in his tracks. The next moment, Lovino was flying towards him. The next thing he knew was that he was lying on his back. Lovino's body was on top of him. The sword was pinning both of them to the ground now. Antonio's eyes widened at the sharp pain he felt. "L-Lo..." he managed to choke.

"You bastard... I... love you..."

They both leaned in for a kiss. Every moment could be their last one now. The Spaniard could taste the tears on his lover's lips... With all of his strength, he managed to wrap one arm around him. "Shh..."

The pain was slowly going away... He was starting to feel numb. "Lovino... It's... It's alright. Everything's alright. I love you so much..." It hurt to talk. But at least that proved that he was still alive... "I'm so sorry for what happened. You know... You could just have killed me, you didn't have to die... Do you really love me that much?"

There was no response. The body above him was already cold. Still, Antonio kept talking.

"We could have stayed together if I hadn't been so stupid... We could have grown up together, we could have made you a vampire... My father can do that, remember? And then... maybe we could even have had kids. I'm very sure you would have been a good daddy. Hehe... We would walk around in the garden all day, teaching them things, telling them stories... We would sing for them... You have a really beautiful voice, you know? I don't think you know, but I heard you singing."

He chuckled. Silence.

"Ah... That were such good times..." He sighed. "I guess you didn't have any other choice than to kill me. The hunter made you do that, didn't he? And... you were too scared... Poor Lovi." The smile that had been on his face before – even though it was a fake one – disappeared.

"I'm sorry, Lovi. I really shouldn't have acted this stupid. Ah, well..." With the last little bit of the strength he had left, he kissed Lovino's cold forehead. "So cute... Buenas noches, sweetheart."

Nothing was his response. Antonio didn't mind. If Lovino was with him, then everything was alright.

* * *

The sound of footsteps echoed through the forest. Some branches were pushed aside by a small hand. The footsteps finally stopped, as brown eyes looked down at the two bodies. "You didn't have to do this, fratello..." the boy spoke, kneeling down. "I finally convinced him. The vampire was allowed to stay." He stood back up again. "It can't be helped... I'm sorry, fratello. I have to leave now. I will think about you. I will miss you. Goodbye, fratello. Good night." With these words, the boy turned around, walked off, and disappeared into the distance.


End file.
